A.  i.  Uvorsan 

y 


\ 


\ 


MAP  OF  THE  WORLD.— See  p.  68. 


GEONOMY: 

A  THEORY  OF  THE  OCEAN  CURRENTS 


AND  THEIR  AGENCY  IN  THE 


Jwmxtion  of  ft*  (Mittenfe; 


TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED 


ASTROG-EISTEA: 


A  NEW  THEORY  OF 


THE  FORMATION  OP  PLANETARY  SYSTEMS. 


BY  J.  STANLEY  GRIMES, 

COUNSELLOR  AT  LAW;  AUTHOR  OF  "  PHRENO-GEOLOGY,"  "A  NEW  SYS- 
TEM OF  NERVOUS  PHYSIOLOGY;"  ETC. 


ALBION  COMMERCIAL  COLLEGE: 

ALBION,  MICH. 

BOSTON:   SAMUEL  F.  NICHOLS. 
1866. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  186fi,  by 

J.  STANLEY  GRIMES, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Eastern  District  of  Michigan. 


DAILY  POST  PRESS,  DETROIT. 


PREFACE. 


In  1838  I  published  a  small  volume,  in  which  I  demonstra- 
ted that  the  organs  of  the  brain  are  arranged  in  a  certain 
natural  order,  which  had  not  been  previously  observed.  In 
1850  I  wrote  another  work,  in  which  I  pointed 'out  the  fact 
that  the  cerebral  organs  are  added  and  superadded  to  each 
other,  in  a  manner  that  corresponds  with  the  geological  or- 
der of  progressive  creation.  In  1857  I  published  a  new  sys- 
tem of  nervous  physiology,  in  which  I  demonstrated  that 
the  functions  of  the  body  and  of  the  brain  are  so  intimately 
related,  that  one  cannot  be  understood  except  in  connection 
with  the  other ;  and  that  both  must  be  studied  by  the  light 
of  comparative  physiology  and  geology.  I  was  thus  natu- 
rally led  to  the  train  of  thought,  which  has  resulted  in  the 
production  of  several  essays  upon  the  origin  of  continents, 
oceans  and  planetary  systems.  I  ask  no  favor  for  the  errors 
which  this  book  contains :  they  deserve  none.  But,  though 
the  history  of  science  affords  me  little  encouragement,  I  con- 
fess that  I  am  desirous  that  some  of  the  new  truths  in  these 
pages  may  obtain  a  favorable  reception. 

DETROIT,  June  1st,  1866. 


To  the 
Hon.    IMA   MAYSLEW, 

THIS  VOLUME  IS  RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED. 

When,  a  sJwrt  time  ago,  I  explained  to  the  Professors  and  Students  in 
the  Commercial  College,  in  Albion,  Michigan,  some  of  the  principles  dis- 
cussed in  these  pages,  a  wish  was  expressed  that  I  would  publish  a  book 
upon  the  subject.  Candor  compelled  me  to  answer  that,  in  all  probabil- 
ity, a  publication  so  purely  scientific  could  only  be  made  at  a  pecuniary 
loss,  which  no  professional  publisher  would  wittingly  incur.  Under 
these  circumstances,  the  President  of  the  College,  the  Hon.  Ira  Mayhew, 
generously  volunteered  to  bear  the  loss,  whatever  it  might  prove  to  be. 
The  least  lean  do  is  to  make  this  public  acknowledgement  of  his  magna- 
nimity. Indeed,  I  regard  it  as  no  small  compliment,  that  this  gentleman 
— upon  whom  the  mantle  of  Hoi-ace  Mann  seems  to  have  fallen,  who  has 
devoted  his  life  to  the  noble  cause  of  education,  and  served  the  State  dur- 
ing eight  years,  as  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — should  so 
highly  appreciate  the  results  of  my  labors. 

I  sincerely  hope  time  icill  prove  that,  by  this  act  of  liberality,  he  has 
conferred  a  favor  upon  the  public,  as  well  as  upon 

His  obedient  servant, 

THE  A  UTI10R. 


Information  concerning  the  Albion  Commercial  College,  has,  at  my 
request,  been  furnished,  and  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 


CONTENTS. 


GEONOMY. 

Page. 

SECTION  I.— INTRODUCTION, 9 

SECTION  II. — CAUSE  OF  THE  OCEAN  CURRENTS  AND 

EFFECTS  OF  THE  EARTH'S  ROTATION,.  11 
DISTINCTION  BETWEEN  LOCAL  AND  EL-  19 
LIPTICAL   CURRENTS  —  Six   TURNING 

POINTS  IN  ELLIPSES, 32 

SPOTS  ON  THE  SUN  AND  THEIR  CAUSE, ...  33 

PRIMITIVE  PLAN, 35-47 

SECTION  III.— SINKING  OF  THE  OCEAN'S  FLOOR  BE- 
NEATH THE  WEIGHT  OF  SEDIMENT,.  . .  40 

SECTION  IV.— LOCAL  CURRENTS, 48 

SECTION  V. — DERANGEMENT  OF  THE  CURRENTS, 57 

SECTION  VI.— PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY, 61 

EAST  AND  WEST  RUNNING  MOUNTAINS,  .  71 

MOUNTAINS  OF  THE  MOON, 87 

GEOLOGICAL  FORMATIONS, 89 

SECTION  VII.— ECONOMY  OF  VITAL  FORCE, 93 

SECTION  VIII. — DRIFT  FORMATION  AND  ITS  RELATION 

TO  THE  LOCAL  CURRENTS, 102 

SECTION  X.— SYSTEM  OF  THE  WINDS, 107 

POLAR  LIGHTS, 120 

CYCLONES, 122 

RECAPITULATION  OF  GEONOMY, 128 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 


ASTROGENEA. 

Page. 

SECTION  I.— INTRODUCTION, 133 

SECTION  II— FORMATION  OF  THE  SOLAR  SYSTEM, 139 

MAGNITUDES  AND   DENSITIES   OF   THE 
PLANETS, 145 

SECTION  III. — INTERVALS,  AND  COMMON  DIFFERENCE 

OF  ORBITAL  VELOCITIES, 153 

FORMATION  OF  PLANETS  FROM  RINGS,.  .  .159 

FORMATION  OF  ASTEROIDS, 161 

NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS, 163 

BODE'S  LAW, 167 

SECTION  IV.— SERIAL  RELATIONS  OF  THE  PLANETS,..  .170 
SERIAL  RELATIONS  OF  JUPITER'S  SATEL- 
LITES,   179 

SERIAL  RELATIONS  OF  SATURN'S  SATEL- 

ELLITES, 181 

SATELLITES  OF  URANUS, 183 

SECTION  V.— COMPARATIVE  ASTROGENEA, 184 

SECTION  VI— PHYSICAL  CAUSE  OF  GRAVITATION, 190 

RECAPITULATION  OF  ASTROGENEA, 206 


OUTLINES   OF   GEONOMY 


SECTION  I. 
INTRODUCTION. 

THE  word  geonomy  is  derived  from  two  Greek 
words,  f/e,  the  earth,  and  nomos,  a  law,  and 
is  analogous  to  astronomy,  which  is  from  the  Greek 
astron,  a  star,  and  nomos. 

Before  entering  upon  an  explanation  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  Geonomy,  let  us  briefly  review  the  pro- 
gress of  our  race  in  their  knowledge  of  the  earth's 
surface. 

Previous  to  the  discovery  of  America,  what  was 
called  "the  civilized  world,"  was  principally  con- 
fined to  the  borders  of  that  series  of  land-locked 
seas  that  extend  eastward  from  Gibralter  to  the 
Indian  ocean. 

This  long  intermediate  region  was  denominated 
by  Humboldt  "  a  great  cleft  in  the  earth's  crust," 
the  natural  cause  of  which  he  regarded  as  inexpli- 


.—  I  took  the  liberty  to  coin  the  word  Geonomy  in  1857,  and  to 
use  it  as  the  title  to  the  small  volume  which  1  then  wrote  on  the  subject  ; 
and  I  am  pleased  to  see  that  the  learned  Dr.  Worcester  has  adopted  it 
into  his  excellent  quarto  dictionary  of  the  English  language. 
2 


]  0  INTRODUCTION. 

cable.  It  appears  to  be  well  adapted  by  the  Crea- 
tor to  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  undoubtedly 
intended — a  nursery  of  human  genius,  and  a  start- 
ing point  in  the  march  of  our  race  to  a  higher 
plane  of  civilization.  There  is  abundant  evidence 
that  Africa,  western  Europe,  and  eastern  Asia 
were  once  separated  by  wide  seas,  which  gradually 
became  narrower  as  the  continents  rose  higher  and 
extended  themselves  toward  each  other.  The  navi- 
gation of  those  inland  waters  brought  together  the 
various  inhabitants  of  their  shores  for  the  purposes 
of  war  and  commerce.  The  result  was  that  a 
mixed  and  superior  people  were  pi-oduced,  who  in- 
herited, in  combination,  all  the  dominant  traits  of 
their  several  ancestral  tribes. 

Civilization,  so  far  as  it  can  be  traced  back  in 
authentic  history,  commenced  its  career  on  the 
banks  of  the  Nile,  which  flows  into  the  eastern 
extremity  of  the  Mediterranean.  It  is  now  impossi- 
ble to  determine  whether  the  civilization  of  Egypt 
did  not  originate  in  India  or  China,  but  it  is  certain 
that  under  the  combined  influence  of  commerce 
and  of  arms,  it  directed  its  course  from  the  eastern 
towards  the  western  borders  of  the  Mediterranean. 
The  Pho3nicians,  the  neighbors  and  allies  of  the 
Israelites,  and  probably  belonging  to  the  same  race, 
were  the  successors  of  the  Egyptians  in  enterprise 
and  intellectual  advancement.  They  were  the  first 
international  and  maritime  merchants  of  whom  we 
have  any  account.  They  traded  in  all  the 
countries  between  Britain  and  India,  and  made 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

themselves  acquainted  with  the  arts  of  the  various 
peoples  among  whom  they  traveled.  A  short  dis- 
tance west  of  Phoenicia  was  the  peninsula  of 
Greece,  where  the  eastern  merchants  founded  a 
colony,  and  succeeded  in  infusing  a  portion  of  their 
own  spirit  and  intelligence  among  the  natives, 
whom  they  subdued.  Thither  they  transplanted 
all  the  arts,  the  learning  and  the  enterprise  which 
they  possessed.  There  grew  the  most  remarkable 
people  the  world  has  ever  known.  The  very  ruins 
of  their  temples  and  their  statues  are  still  models 
which  the  artists  of  modern  times  are  proud  to 
imitate,  but  which  have  never  been  excelled. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  their  eloquence  and 
poetry.  The  intellectual  influence  of  this  small 
community  is  still  felt  wherever  learning  is  ap- 
preciated, or  science  cultivated.  A  few  miles  west 
of  Greece  is  another  peninsula,  that  projects  into 
the  Mediterranean,  in  the  form  of  a  boot,  as  if  to 
assert  that  it  was  pre-destined  to  trample  upon  the 
rest  of  the  world.  This  is  Italy,  and  here  is  Rome, 
Avhere  civilization  took  her  next  stand,  with  aug- 
mented resoiirces,  clothed  with  the  borrowed 
learning  and  arts  of  the  Greeks,  whom  they 
equalled  in  bravery,  and  far  excelled  in  political 
wisdom.  They  extended  their  power  from  Britain 
and  Gibraltar  in  the  west  to  Egypt  and  India  in 
the  east. 

The  vast  undefined  countries  that  lie  north  of 
the  great  cleft,  contained  a  numerous  horde  of  bar- 
barous people,  whose  interior  geographical  position 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

prevented  them  from  enjoying  much  intercourse 
with  Southern  Europe,  or  with  each  other.  Thus 
their  civilization  was  retarded,  while  their  physical 
and  animal  powers  were  highly  developed.  The 
necessary  result  was  that  these  rude  but  vigorous 
tribes  overwhelmed  the  more  refined  nations  near 
the  Mediterranean,  and  produced  the  Dark  Ages. 

When  the  light  of  modern  times  began  to  dawn, 
it  was  in  Spain,  France,  and  England,  the  western 
outposts  of  the  great  continent,  that  it  was  most 
conspicuous.  Civilization  had  at  length  reached  the 
shores  of  the  Atlantic,  and  seemed  to  be  gazing 
with  prophetic  vision  toward  the  western  world. 
It  was  at  this  time  that  Columbus  appeared  and 
commenced  a  series  of  voyages,  which  were  con- 
tinued by  Magellan,  Gama,  Cabot,  Hudson,  Cook, 
and  finally  by  McClure,  and  Ross,  and  Wilkes, 
iintil,  at  length,  the  outlines  of  all  the  continents 
are  made  known,  and  a  science  of  Geonomy  has 
become  possible. 

When  sufficient  knowledge  had  been  obtained 
of  the  earth's  surface  to  enable  geographers^  to 
make  even  imperfect  maps  of  the  whole  world, 
there  were  several  striking  features  of  the  conti- 
nents that  attracted  their  attention  and  demanded 
an  explanation.  Some  of  the  most  prominent  of 
them  are  the  following : 

o 

1.  The  continents  terminate  at  the  South  in 
points.  Thus  it  is  with  South  America,  North 
America,  Africa  and  Australia. 


INTRODUCTION.  1 3 

2.  The  Western  sides  of  the  tropical  continents 
are  hollowed  out. 

3.  The  continents  seem  to  be  arranged  in  three 
pairs,  namely :  North  and  South  America,  Europe 
and  Africa,  Asia  and  Australia. 

4.  Each  pair  is  connected  by  an  isthmus ;  thus 
North  and  South  America  are   connected  by  the 
isthmus  of  Central  America ;   Europe   and  Africa 
by  the  isthmus  of  Suez ;  and  Australia  and  Asia  by 
a  chain  of  islands  and  a  submarine  isthmus,  which 
is  only  concealed  by  very  shallow  Avater. 

5.  Near  each   isthmus  is  an  archipelago  on  its 
eastern  side. 

6.  The  shore  lines  of  the  continents  are  loxodro- 
mic  or  oblique  to  the  parallels  and  meridian  lines. 
None  of  the  shore  lines  run  north  and  south  nor 
east  and  west;  they    run    north-west   and    south- 
east or  north-east  and  south-west. 

7.  The  slopes  of  the  continents  are  most  abrupt 
on  the  sides  toward  the  larger  oceans,  and  more 
gentle  on  the  opposite  sides:  thus  the  American 
and  the  Asiatic  lands  are  highest  toward  the  Pa- 
cific, and  those  of  Africa  toward  the  Indian  Ocean. 

8.  Groups   of  movintains,   in   many  places,   are 
found  to   consist   of  remarkably  parallel   ridges, 
bearing  a  close  resemblance  to  a  succession  of  ocean 
waves,  though  not  so  regular  or  uniform. 

9.  Volcanoes  seem  to  be   in  most  instances  ar- 
ranged in  lines,  upon  a  series   of  islands  parallel 
with  the  shore,  or  on  the  main  land  near  the  shore 
and  parallel  with  it. 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

10.  The  Northern  hemisphere  has  three-fourths 
of  its  surface  above  the  sea,  while  the  Southern 
hemisphere  has  not  more  than  one-fourth. 

It  was  very  natural  that  there  should  be  a  dis- 
position manifested  to  theorize  concerning  these 
remarkable  arrangements  and  features  of  the  con- 
tinents. Reinholdt  Forster,  the  companion  of 
Capt.  Cook,  and  the  early  friend  of  Humboldt, 
was  the  first  to  propose  an  explanation  of  any  of 
these  peculiarities.  He  suggested  that  there  may 
have  been  a  tremendous  flood  or  rush  of  water, 
from  some  unknown  cause,  in  a  north-east  direction, 
against  the  western  sides  of  the  southern  lands, 
which  tore  away  the  shores,  and  carried  the  frag- 
ments across  from  the  western  to  the  eastern  sides 
of  the  continent;  thus  furnishing  the  materials 
from  which  the  islands  near  the  eastern  shores 
were  created. 

The  discoveries  which  have  been  made  in  Geol- 
ogy since  his  time  have  demonstrated  the  fallacy 
of  Forster's  hypothesis.  It  has  been  proved  that 
the  continents  and  islands  have  all  been  elevated 
above  the  sea  very  gradually,  by  a  force  acting 
under  the  earth's  crust.  The "  borders  of  the  con- 
tinents have  been  raised  higher  than  the  interiors. 
In  many  instances  the  earth's  crust  has  been  raised 
in  a  long  mountainous  ridge,  until  the  crust  has 
broken,  so  that  at  the  top  of  the  ridge,  the  two 
broken  edges  can  be  plainly  seen,  separated  from 
each  other  by  the  axis  or  median  line  of  the  ridge ; 
the  succession  of  geological  layers  on  one  side  of 


INTRODUCTION:  15 

the  line  being  merely  repetitions  of  those  on  the 
opposite  side.  All  important  mountains  are  in  fact 
made  in  this  manner,  though  their  broken  edges 
are  not  always  visible.* 

If  we  except  this  geonomic  theory,  no  hypothe- 
sis has  ever  been  suggested  to  account  for  the 
directions  in  which  ttye  internal  forces  have  acted ; 
nor  has  even  a  conjecture  been  ventured  concern- 
ing the  cause  of  the  continents  assuming  the  pecu- 
liar forms,  number  and  proportions  which  they  do. 

The  favorite,  and  generally  received  hypothesis 
concerning  the  elevation  of  the  continents,  is  that 
first  advanced  by  Leibnitz,  and  advocated  by  Buffon, 
and  more  lately  by  Dana,  Agassiz,  and  all  the 
modern  geologists,  except  Lyell.  It  may  be  briefly 
stated  as  follows : 

The  earth  was  primitively  a  globular  mass  of 
melted  and  fluid  matter,  which  was  intensely  hot. 
The  gradual  cooling  of  the  surface  caused  a  crust 
to  form  around  the  liquid  mass.  The  continued 
cooling  of  the  internal  lava  made  it  contract  to 

*NOTE.— It  is  necessary  to  consider  this  argument,  when  discussing  the 
subject  of  geonomy  with  those  who  admit  that  the  ocean  currents  have 
had  a  great  influence  in  forming  the  shore  lines,  but  who  do  not  ac- 
knowledge that  the  movements  of  the  internal  lava  were  dependent  upon 
the  oceanic  sediment  and  the  currents.  For,  if  the  shores  agree  in  direc- 
tion with  the  currents,  so  also  do  the  mountains,  which  are  certainly  cre- 
ated by  upward  movements  of  the  lava.  If,  therefore,  the  currents  de 
termined  the  directions  of  the  shores  and  mountains,  they  must  have  done 
so  by  by  regulating  the  deposits  of  sediment  upon  the  ocean's  bed,  which 
deposits,  by  their  weight,  pressed  the  subjacent  lava  upward,  and  thus  cre- 
ated the  mountains.  Any  one  who  studies  this  subject  thoroughly,  will 
I  think,  be  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  a  true  theory  of  the  ocean  cur- 
rents must  underlie  a  proper  science  of  physical  geography. 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

such  a  degree  that  the  enveloping  crust  became 
too  large  for  the  internal  mass.  The  consequence 
was  that  the  crust  became  corrugated ;  the  lower 
folds  falling  inward  upon  the  lava  formed  the  ocean 
basins  and  the  upper  folds  being  left  in  elevated 
positions  constituted  the  continents.  As  the  earth, 
during  the  long  series  of  geological  ages,  has  still 
further  cooled,  the  internal  folds,  that  is,  the  oceanic 
basins,  have  sunk  deeper,  and  the  external  folds  or 
continents,  have  become  relatively  more  prominent, 
until  the  present  time. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  this  hypothesis  alone, 
even  if  admitted  to  be  true,  gives  no  answer  to 
the  questions  which  naturally  force  themselves  in- 
to our  minds,  concerning  the  forms,  number  and 
arrangement  of  the  continents  and  oceans,  the 
loxodromic  directions  of  the  shore  lilies  and  moun- 
tain ranges;  nor,  indeed,  of  any  other  geographi- 
cal circumstance,  except  the  mere  isolated  fact  of 
gradual  elevation  and  depression. 

In  1857  I  wrote  a  small  volume  in  which  I  ad- 
vanced the  following  propositions,  all  of  which 
were  original  except  the  first : 

1.  The  ocean  primitively  covered  the  earth,  and 
was  nearly  of  equal  depth  OA~er  the  Avhole  globe. 

2.  The  ocean  currents  then  constituted  six  ellip- 
ses or  imperfect  circles,  three  in  each  hemisphere, 
corresponding    with    the    north    and    south    Pa- 
cific,  north  and   south    Atlantic,   and   north  and 
south  Indian.     What  caused   these   six  elliptical 
circuits  I  could  not  then  understand. 


INTRODUCTION.  1 7 

3.  The  elliptical  circulation  of  the  ocean  currents 
caused  the  sediment  to  collect  within  the  limits  of 
each  ellipse,  on  the  ocean  floor ;  which  sediment,  by 
its  weight,  caused  depressions  of  the  earth's  crust, 
and,  by  crowding  the  subjacent  lava  upward,  pro- 
duced corresponding  inter-elliptical  elevations :  thus 
the  oceans  and  continents  were  created. 

4.  If  the  six  basins  had  sunk  equally,  the  conti- 
nental interspaces  would  have  been  nearly  equal 
and  symetrical ;    but  the  basins  sunk  irregularly, 
and  thus  produced  the  present  unsymetrical  map 
of  the  world. 

The  principal  defect  of  my  theory  at  that  time 
was,  that  I  could  not  give  any  philosophical  reason 
for  the  waters  flowing  in  ellipses,  and,  of  course,  I 
did  not  perceive  the  distinction  between  local  and 
elliptical  currents. 

I  assumed  that  the  currents  must  have  moved  in 
six  ellipses,  because  on  that  assumption  I  could 
readily  account,  in  a  general  manner,  for  the  actual 
forms,  numbers  and  positions  of  the  continents.  Be- 
fore my  book  was  published,  though  it  was  stereo- 
typed, I  found  that  it  could  be  improved  in  so  many 
particulars  that  I  withheld  it  from  the  public,  and 
only  distributed  a  few  copies  among  my  particular 
friends.  By  dint  of  continual  investigation,  I  have 
at  length  succeeded  in  discovering  the  reason  why 
the  principal  currents  assume  elliptical  paths.  This 
has  produced  such  radical  changes  in  the  geonomic 
theory  as  to  render  my  former  book  on  the  subject 
obsolete,  and  to  make  this  outline  necessary. 
2* 


SECTION  II. 

THE  GREAT  OCEAN  CURRENTS  AND  THE  FORCES 
THAT  REGULATE  THEM. 

IT  is  now  admitted  by  the  best  authorities,  that 
the  cause  of  the  great  and  constant  ocean  cur- 
rents is  the  difference  of  temperature  between  the 
higher  and  the  lower  latitudes.  The  water,  being 
heated  near  the  equator,  expands  and  overflows 
north  and  south  toward  the  poles,  constituting  a 
surface  current,  the  water  of  which,  as  it  gradually 
cools,  condenses  and  sinks  until  it  becomes  of  the 
same  temperature  as  the  polar  waters.  A  large  quan- 
tity of  water  is  also  evaporated  in  the  equatorial 
regions  and  carried  poleward,  probably  from 
five  to  thirty  degrees  of  latitude,  before  it  falls 
again  into  the  ocean;  even  then  it  is  warm  and  fresh, 
and  adds  to  the  surface  current  that  flows  poleward. 
The  loss  of  so  much  water  in  the  equatorial  region 
is  compensated  by  the  cold  under-currents  that  flow 
from  the  polar  regions.  We  thus  have  a  perfect 
explanation  of  the  fact  that  an  interchange  of  cold 
and  warm  currents  is  continually  going  on  between 
the  equatorial  and  the  polar  zones  of  the  earth. 

At  the  first  thought  we  should  suppose  that 
these  two  currents  would  flow,  one  due  south  and 
the  other  due  north ;  but  the  truth  is  that  they 


THE  GREAT  OCEAN  CURRENTS.  19 

are  deflected  eastward  when  moving  toward  the 
pole,  and  westward  when  moving  toward  the  equa- 
tor. The  reason  of  this  fact  is  now  of  so  much  impor- 
tance that,  although  it  has  been  stated  by  many  au- 
thors, and  may  be  well  understood  by  most  of  my 
readers,  I  shall,  notwithstanding,  endeavor  to  ex- 
plain it  as  clearly  as  possible,  for  the  benefit  of  those 
to  whom  the  subject  is  not  familiar. 

EFFECT  OF  THE  EARTH'S  ROTATION  UPON  THE  OCEAN 

CURRENTS  SO  FAR  AS  IT  HAS  HITHERTO 

BEEN    UNDERSTOOD. 

The  poles  of  the  earth  are  relatively  immovable, 
while  each  spot  at  the  equator  is  moving  eastward 
about  one  thousand  miles  an  hour  around  the 
earth's  axis.  The  nearer  water,  or  any  thing  else, 
is  to  the  equator,  the  farther  eastward  it  moves  in 
a  given  time  ;  and,  on  the  contrary,  the  nearer  the 
pole  it  is,  the  less  is  the  distance  which  it  travels 
eastward  in  the  same  time.  Of  course,  each  degree 
of  latitude  has  its  own  rate  of  easterly  velocity. 
This  will  be  best  understood  if  we  take  a  round 
table  and  make  it  turn  horizontally  upon  its  centre ; 
it  will  then  appear  that  the  nearer  any  object  is  to 
the  edge  of  the  table  the  faster  it  moves ;  that  is, 
the  farther  it  moves  in  a  given  time ;  and  the  nearer 
it  is  to  the  centre  of  the  table,  the  slower  it  moves. 
In  this  case  the  centre  of  the  table  represents 
the  pole  or  axis  of  the  earth,  and  the  edge  repre- 
sents the  equator.  If  we  draw  a  straight  line  from 
the  edge  of  the  table  to  its  centre,  and  place  a 


20  EFFECT  OF  THE  EAKTIl's  ROTATION 

billiard  ball  on  the  line,  near  the  edge,  and  when 
the  table  is  still,  give  the  ball  an  impulse  directed 
toward  the  centre,  it  will  move  along  on  the  line  to 
the  centre.  Now  set  the  ball  again  near  the  edge,  as 
before,  and  cause  the  table  to  turn  rapidly  upon  its 
centre;  let  the  ball  again  receive  an  impulse  di- 
rected toward  the  centre,  and  it  will  not  now  move 
upon  the  same  line  that  it  did  before,  but  will  be 
deflected,  gradually,  more  and  more  from  it  to  one 
side,  which  we  will  call  the  eastern  side.  The 
reason  of  this  deflection  is  that  the  ball  carried 
with  it,  toward  the  centre,  the  greater  rate  of  ro- 
tary or  easterly  force  which  it  had  acquired  near 
the  edge.  The  water  which  moves  from  the  equa- 
torial toward  the  polar  regions  of  the  earth  is  in 
the  same  predicament :  therefore,  when  the  differ- 
ence of  temperature — the  warmth — impels  the 
water  in  a  current  toward  the  pole,  the  different 
rate  of  easterly  velocity — the  inertise — impels  it 
eastward.  The  resultant  of  the  two  impulses  is, 
(in  the  northern  hemisphere,)  a  movement  north- 
eastward, and,  (in  the  soxithern  hemisphere,)  south- 
eastward. 

When  water  moves  from  the  north  polar  to  the 
equatorial  region,  the  diffei-ence  of  easterly  velocity 
causes  it  to  move  south-west.  In  reality  it  moves 
due  south,  but  the  rotation  of  the  earth  makes  it 
seem  to  move  south-west,  because  it  moves  relotlrc- 
ly  south- Avest.  This  will  be  understood  if  we  place 
the  ball  at  the  centre  of  the  table  already  described, 
and  when  the  table  is  still,  impel  the  ball  toward  the 


UPON  THE  OCEAN  CURRENTS.         21 

edge :  it  will  move  in  a  straight  line  in  the  direction 
of  the  impulse.  Now  place  the  ball  in  the  center 
again,  and  while  the  table  is  in  rapid  rotation,  im- 
pel the  ball  as  before,  toward  the  edge,  and  we 
shall  find  that  it  does  not  pass  along  the  line  on 
which  it  previously  moved,  but  runs,  or  is  deflec- 
ted to  one  side  of  it,  we  will  call  it  the  west  side. 
The  table,  in  fact,  slips  past,  nnder  the  ball,  in 
what  we  will  call  an  easterly  direction,  leaving  the 
ball  on  the  west  side  of  the  line.  Precisely  so  it 
is  with  the  current  that  moves  toward  the  equa- 
tor. The  earth  is  continually  slipping  iinder  it,  and 
leaving  it  relatively  more  and  more  westward. 
As  far  as  I  have  gone  in  this  explanation,  I  have 
merely  illustrated  the  true  doctrines  of  my  prede- 
cessors, without  advancing  any  peculiar  ideas  of 
my  own.  The  following  views  are  of  a  different 
character,  having  nothing  to  recommend  them  but 
their  own  obvious  merits. 

NEW  THEORY  OF  THE  OCEAN  CURRENTS. 
TWO    CLASSES    OF   CURRENTS. 

It  has  been  assumed  by  all  writers  on  the  ocean 
currents  that  the  water  always  leaves  the  equato- 
rial, and  also  the  polar  regions,  possessing  the  same 
rate  of  easterly  velocity  as  the  earth  does  in  the 
latitude  from  which  the  current  flows.  This  is  not 
only  a  great  mistake,  but  it  has  been  the  source  of 
nearly  all  the  errors  with  which  this  subject  has 
been  embarrassed.  The  truth  is  that  there  are  two 


22    NEW  THEORY  OF  THE  OCEAN  CURRENTS. 

distinct  classes  of  currents  in  the  ocean,  one  of 
which  may  be  denominated  local  and  the  other 
elliptical. 

The  explanation  of  the  currents  already  made 
in  the  preceding  pages,  applies  only  to  the  local  cur- 
rents. The  elliptical  currents  have  hitherto  never 
been  recognized  as  a  distinct  class,  and  the  theo- 
retical principles  upon  which  they  depend  have 
been  entirely  overlooked.  The  two  classes  of  cur- 
rents have  been  strangely  confounded  together. 
The  elliptical  currents,  when  noticed,  have  been 
regained  as  ordinary  local  currents,  deflected  out 
of  their  normal  paths  by  accidental  circumstances. 

CAUSE  OF  THE  ELLIPTICAL  CURRENTS. 

Prof.  Joseph  Henry,  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  in  an 
article  in  one  of  the  Patent  Office  Reports,  says,  in 
substance,  that  "  there  are  five  immense  circuits, 
or  whirls  of  ocean  currents,  two  in  the  north  and 
south  Atlantic,  and  two  in  the  north  and  south 
Pacific,  similar  in  situation,  and  analogous  in 
direction  and  motion.  In  the  Indian  ocean  an- 
other whirl,  or  circuit,  exists  of  the  same  general 
character." 

"  It  is  not  pretended,"  he  remarks,  "  that  the  cir- 
cular currents  can  be  continuously  traced,  but  by 
attentively  examining  the  maps  the  general  out- 
lines and  directions  can  be  made  out."  Prof.  Dana, 
in  his  Manual  of  Geology,  makes  the  same  general 
statement,  and  illustrates  it  by  an  engraving. 


ELLIPTICAL  CURRENTS.  23 

While  these  distinguished  writers  thus  admit 
that  each  great  ocean  possesses  an  elliptical  cur- 
rent, no  explanation  of  the  fact  has  been  proposed, 
except  that  the  currents,  when  moving  north  or 
south  in  the  manner  already  explained,  are  deflect- 
ed out  of  their  normal  directions,  and  driven  into 
circular  movements  by  adverse  winds,  or  by  being 
forced  against  the  opposing  shores  of  the  ocean 
basins.  It  never  seems  to  have  occurred  to  any 
author  or  navigator  that  the  normal  path  of  a 
great  ocean  current  is  necessarily  elliptical,  and 
that  it  would  pursue  this  path  if  no  shores  or  winds 
existed  to  deflect  it  from  its  true  course. 

According  to  the  commonly  received  theory,  a 
current  which  moves  alternately  to  and  from  the 
equator  and  the  north  polar  region,  must  flow 
north-east  from  the  equator  all  the  way  to  its  nor- 
thern terminus,  as  a  surface  current,  and  then  re- 
turn as  a  deep  under  current,  running  south-west. 
The  only  ellipse  formed  would  be  a  vertical  one ; 
the  warm  current  flowing  above  and  the  cold  cur- 
rent returning  immediately  below  it  to  the  equator. 
This  theory  is  contradicted  in  every  ocean,  by 
more  than  half  of  the  actual  currents,  and  conse- 
quently, its  adherents  are  repeatedly  forced  to  re- 
sort to  adverse  winds  and  deflecting  shores  to  ac- 
count for  the  numerous  discrepancies  which  they 
encounter. 

Let  us  take  the  current  that  circulates  around 
the  North  Atlantic  ocean  as  an  example,  by  means 
of  which  to  explain  our  theory,  and  the  principles 


24  CAUSES  OF  THE 

involved  in  all  the  analogous  cases  of  elliptical  cur- 
rents. 

When  a  current  runs  in  a  circle  or  ellipse,  it 
cannot  be  properly  said  to  have  a  beginning  or  an 
end ;  but,  for  convenience  of  description,  let  us  say 
that  this  current  commences  in  or  near  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  at  the  25th  degree  of  north  latitude, 
and  flows  north-east  to  the  banks  of  Newfound- 
land, in  the  45th  degree  of  north  latitude ;  it  then 
turns  and  flows  nearly  due  east,  almost  or  quite 
to  the  shores  of  Europe,  then  south-east  to  the 
African  coast,  then  south-west  to  near  the  equator, 
thence  due  west  to  South  America,  and  then  north- 
west to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  from  whence  it  started. 

When  the  water  leaves  the  Gulf  of  Mexico — the 
25th  degree — (1  fig.  1)  it  doubtless  possesses  the 
easterly  velocity  proper  to  the  earth  in  that  lati- 
tude. At  all  events  let  us,  for  the  sake  of  illustra- 
tion, assume  that  it  does  so.  Of  course,  according 
to  the  principles  already  explained,  it  must  move 
north-east.  When  it  has  proceeded  five  degrees  of 
latitude,  and  has  arrived  at  the  30th  degree,  it  has 
brought  with  it  a  greater  amount  of  easterly 
velocity  than  the  earth  in  the  30th  degree  posses- 
ses. The  water  of  the  current  differs  from  the 
proper  water  of  the  30th  degree.  Let  us  represent 
the  difference  by  the  number  5.  This  surplus,  or 
difference,  the  current  retains,  and  proceeds  on  its 
Avay  north-east.  When  it  arrives  at  the  35th  de- 
gree of  north  latitude,  the  difference  has  increased, 
and  now  amounts  to  10;  at  the  40th  degree  it  is 


ELLIPTICAL  CURRENTS.  25 

15  ;  and  when  the  current  reaches  Newfoundland, 
or  the  45th  degree  of  north  latitude  (2  fig.  1),  the 
difference  is  20. 

Here  the  current  meets  the  grand  banks,  which 
are  commonly  supposed  to  deflect  it  eastward ;  but 
when  we  know  that  it  has  been  acquiring  more  and 
more  easting  from  the  time  that  it  left  the  West 
Indies,  and  that  it  has  now  a  surplus  of  it  equal  to 
20;  when  we  further  consider  that  its  northerly 
force  has  been,  during  the  same  time,  diminishing, 
— we  can  readily  understand  that  it  would  move 
almost  due  east  from  Newfoundland  to  the  Euro- 
pean coast,  even  if  the  grand  banks  did  not  exist. 

In  proceeding  from  the  25th  to  the  45th  degree 
the  current  is  impelled  by  two  distinct  forces,  one 
of  which  acting  alone  wrould  have  carried  it  due 
north,  and  the  other  acting  alone  would  have  car- 
ried it  due  east.  The  northerly  force  is  at  its  max- 
imum when  the  current  starts  from  the  25th  degree, 
and  gradually  diminishes  until  it  reaches  the  45th 
degree,  when  it  is  exhausted.  The  easterly  force 
— the  difference — is  nothing  at  starting  from  the 
25th  degree,  but  manifests  itself  immediately  after- 
ward, and  gradually  and  continuously  increases  as 
long  as  the  current  runs  northward.  When,  at  the 
45th  degree,  the  current  ceases  to  run  northward, 
it  is  subject  to  the  easterly  force  only.  It  can 
therefore  only  move  due  east.  While  moving  east- 
ward it  is  continually  growing  cooler,  and  there- 
fore has  an  increasing  tendency  to  move  toward  the 
equator;  in  other  words,  it  begins  (3  fig.  1)  to  move 
3 


26  CAUSES  OP  THE 

south-east,  and  continues  in  that  direction  until  the 
easting  is  exhausted.  This  happens  near  the  25th 
degree  of  north  latitude  (4  fig.  1).  The  water  of 
the  current  has  now  become  neutral,  that  is,  it  pos- 
sesses no  difference  from  the  water  of  the  earth  in 
that  latitude;  and  therefore,  as  it  continues  its  course 
towards  the  equator,  it  flows  south-west.  When 
the  current  reaches  the  equator  it  is  in  a  condition 
analogous  to  that  in  which  it  arrived  at  Newfound- 
land. It  possesses  a  surplus  of  westerly  force  or 
westing,  which  may  be  represented  by  20.  The 
tendency  to  move  south  is  gone,  but  the  westing  or 
difference  is  at  its  maximum.  In  fact  it  has  only  a 
tendency  to  move  relatively  westward ;  and  it  actu- 
ally does  move  in  that  direction,  from  the  western 
point  of  Africa  (5  fig.  l)  to  the  eastern  point  of 
South  America  (6  fig.  1).  By  this  time  the  water 
has  become  so  much  heated  that  it  overflows  to- 
ward the  north,  that  is,  it  moves  north-west  until 
it  reaches  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  (1  fig.  1).  Its  west- 
ing being  now  gone,  it  becomes  neutral,  that  is,  it 
possesses  the  same  easterly  volocity  as  the  earth  in 
the  25th  degree  of  north  latitude.  Thus  the  ellip- 
tical circuit  of  the  north  Atlantic  is  completed. 

The  attentive  and  critical  reader  will  now  per- 
ceive that  a  current  cannot  flow  alternately  north 
and  south,  in  any  ocean,  without  moving  in  an  ellip- 
tical orbit,  the  diameter  of  which  east  and  west, 
will  be  in  proportion  to  its  diameter  north  and 
south. 

The  two  points  in  an  ellipse  (1  and  4  fig.  1),  where 


ELLIPTICAL  CURRENTS.  27 

the  easterly  velocity  of  the  current  is  the  same  as 
that  of  the  earth,  may  be  called  neutral  points.  A 
local  current  is  always  neutral  at  its  starting  point. 
When  neutral  water  proceeds  from  any  point  to  a 
higher  or  lower  latitude,  it  accumulates  a  greater 
and  greater  difference  of  easterly  velocity  the  fur- 
ther north  or  south  it  flows,  provided  it  does  not 
cross  the  equator. 

FIGURE  1. 


\ 


I 
I 
I 
\ 

\ 

\ 


/ 

N  ./L 


We  have  here  a  perfect  explanation  of  the  fact 
so  well  known  to  navigators,  that  the  currents  near 


28  SIX  TURNING  POINTS 

the  equator  run  almost  directly  west,  while  those 
near  the  polar  regions  run  east.  We  can  also  un- 
derstand why  a  portion  of  an  elliptical  current, 
when  it  flows  northerly  from  the  equator,  must  flow 
north-west,  and  why  such  a  current  which  flows 
southerly  from  the  northern  regions,  must  flow 
south-east. 

SIX   TURNING   POINTS   IN   ELLIPSES. 

If  we  analyze  an  elliptical  current  we  shall  find 
that  it  has  six  turning  points  which  deserve  to  be 
separately  considered.  In  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere they  may  be  enumerated  as  follows : 

1.  The  west  neutral  point  (1  fig.  1) — which  in  the 
north  Atlantic  is  in  or  near  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
in  the  north   Pacific,  in  or  near  the  China  Sea. 
Here  the  waters  of  the  current  possess  the  same 
velocity  as  the  earth.     From  this  point  the  water 
runs  north-east  just  as  a  local  current  would. 

2.  The  due  east  point  (2  fig.  1) — where  the  cur- 
rent has  expended  all  its  northern  tendency,  and 
where  its  easterly  surplus  force  is  at  its  maximum. 
In  the  north  Atlantic  this  point  is  probably  very 
near  Newfoundland,  and  in  the  north  Pacific  near 
Kamschatka. 

3.  The  south-east  turning  point  (3  fig.  1). — This 
is  where  the  current  ceases  to  move  due  east,  and, 
growing  colder,  turns  south-easterly.     This  point 
is,  in  the  north  Atlantic,  near  the  Bay  of  Biscay, 
and  in  the  north  Pacific,  near  British  Columbia. 


IN  ELLIPSES.  29 

4.  The  east  neutral  point  (4  fig.  1). — This  is  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  ellipse,  where  the  current 
has  the  same  easterly  velocity  as  the  earth  has,  and 
from  which  it  moves  south-west  to  the  equator,  just 
as  a  local  cold  current  would.     In  the  north  Atlan- 
tic this  point  is  near  the  west  coast  of  northern 
Africa.     In  the  north  Pacific  it  is  near  the  coast  of 
California. 

5.  The  due  icest  or  equatorial  point  (5  fig.  1) — is 
where  the  current  ceases  to  flow  southward,  but 
moves  due  west.     Having  acquired  a  maximum  of 
easterly  difference,  or  westing,  and  expended  the 
force  that  sent  it  southward,  it  can  only  move  di- 
rectly westward.     In  the  north  Atlantic  this  point 
is  near  the  western  extremity  of  Africa,  and  about 
five  degrees  north  of  the  equator.     In  the  north 
Pacific  it  is  about  ten  degrees  north  of  the  equator, 
and  several  hundred  miles  west  of  Central  America. 

6.  The  north-tcest  turning  point   (6  fig.  1) — is 
where   the  current,  being  heated,  overflows  and 
leaves  the  equator,  and  begins  to  move  north-west. 
In  the  north  Atlantic  this  is  near  the  point  of  Cape 
St.  Roque,  in   South   America;  and  in  the  north 
Pacific,  it  is  in  or  near  the  East  Indian  Archipelago. 

THE    SIX   TURNING   POINTS   IN  THE  ELLIPSES  OF    THE 
SOUTHERN  HEMISPHERE, 

In  the  southern  hemisphere,  the  six  turning 
points,  though,  of  course,  the  directions  are  re- 
versed, are  repeated  in  each  of  the  three  great 


30  TURNING  POINTS  IN  THE  ELLIPSES 

oceans.  We  are  not  practically  as  well  acquainted 
with  the  currents  in  the  extreme  south,  as  we  are 
with  the  northern  currents ;  and  we  cannot,  there- 
fore, point  out,  in  all  cases,  with  as  much  precision 
as  we  could  wish,  the  localities  where  they  turn. 
I  have  no  other  means  of  obtaining  positive  infor- 
mation concerning  the  actual  currents  than  those 
possessed  by  all  my  readers ;  but,  it  appears  to  me, 
that  when  the  laws  that  govern  them  are  well  un- 
derstood, the  existence  and  direction  of  a  current 
may  be  indicated  theoretically,  in  any  locality, 
the  general  geography  of  which  is  known,  even  if 
no  actual  observations  have  been  made.  Just  as  an 
accomplished  astronomer,  when  he  is  correctly  in- 
formed from  actual  observations  concerning  a  few 
points  in  the  path  of  a  comet,  can  predict  its  course 
in  regions  of  space  far  beyond  the  scope  of  hu- 
man vision — so  the  geonomer,  when  the  principles 
and  laws  of  oceanic  circulation  are  well  understood, 
can  predict,  with  equal  accuracy,  in  what  direction 
the  elliptical  or  the  local  currents  must  necessarily 
flow  in  any  unexplored  sea. 

1.  The  west  neutral  point,  in  the  southern  hemi- 
sphere, from  which  the  elliptical  current  flows  south- 
east like  a  local  current,  appears,  in  the  south 
Atlantic,  to  be  near  the  mouth  of  the  La  Plata, 
If  we  rely  upon  theoretical  principles,  we  must  pre- 
sume that  the  current  floAvs  south-east  from  the 
neutral  point  near  the  mouth  of  the  La  Plata,  and 
that  it  afterwards  turns  east  and  then  north-east. 
But  the  truth  is  that  we  have  only  vague  and  con- 


OF  THE  SOUTHERN  HEMISPHERE.  31 

tradictory  accounts  of  the  currents  in  the  southern 
parts  of  the  south  Atlantic ;  and  our  actual  knowl- 
edge of  the  corresponding  parts  of  the  south  Pacific 
is  equally  limited.  I  have  a  strong  suspicion  that 
the  regular  elliptical  currents  are  greatly  interfered 
with,  in  each  of  the  southern  oceans,  by  powerful 
local  currents,  which  flow  north-west  from  the  un- 
explored Antarctic  regions. 

In  the  Indian  ocean  ellipse,  the  west  neutral 
point,  where  the  current  turns  to  flow  south-east, 
must  he  near  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  perhaps 
it  is  within  the  limits  of  the  Atlantic  ocean.  The 
current  of  warm  water  that  flows  south  along  the 
east  coast  of  Africa,  carries  so  much  westing  with 
it  that  it  turns  at  least  half  round-  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  into  the  Atlantic,  Jbefore  its  westing  is 
exhausted.  Then  it  turns  and  flows  south-east 
toward  the  Antarctic  coast. — (See  map  of  the 
world.) 

2.  The  clue  east  point,  in  the  southern  hemisphere 
is  where  the  current  takes  an  eastern  direction,  an- 
alogous to  the  current  from  Newfoundland  in  the 
north  Atlantic.     It  is  admitted,  by  all  navigators, 
that  all  the  currents  that  arrive  near  the  Antarctic 
coast  flow  directly  eastward. 

3.  The  north-east  turning  point. — We  know  pos- 
itively that  there  are  three  currents  of  warm  water, 
one  in  each  southern  ocean,  which  flow  towards 
the   Antarctic  coast.      We  know  that  along  that 
coast  the  currents  all  flow  eastward,  and  we  also 
know  that  from  the  Antarctic  region  three  currents 


32  TURNING  POINTS  IN  THE  ELLIPSES 

of  cold  water  flow  north-east, — one  to  the  west  coast 
of  South  America,  another  to  the  west  coast  of 
Australia,  and  a  third  to  the  west  coast  of  Africa. 

4.  The  west  neutral  point.     It  is  well  known 
that   a  current    flows    north-west   from    the  west 
coast  of  Australia,  another,  north-west  from   the 
west  coast  of  south  Africa,  and  a  third  north-west 
from  the  west  coast  of  South  America.     All  three 
of  these  currents   approach  very  near  or  quite  to 
the  equator. 

5.  The  due  west,  or  equatorial  point,  is  where  the 
current  has  a  maximum  amount  of  westing  which 
it  expends  by  moving  relatively  due  westward. 

6.  The  south-west  turning  point,  is   where  the 
current  in  each  of  the  three  southern  oceans,  turns 
from  the   equator,  and  flows  south-west,  until  it 
reaches  the  neutral  point ;  one  runs  along  the  east 
coast  of  South  America,  another   along  the   east 
coast  of  Australia,  and  a  third  along  the  east  coast 
of  Africa. 

I  have  remarked  that  the  further  a  current  movas 
noi'thward  the  further  it  must  also  move  eastward. 
When  this  fact  is  realized,  it  becomes  plain  that 
the  elliptical  currents  could  not  approach  nearer 
the  poles  than  they  do.  A  current  starting  from 
the  25th  degree  of  north  latitude  and  impelled 
toward  the  north  pole,  could  not  get  within  a 
thousand  miles  of  that  place  before  it  would  be 
moving  directly  eastward,  (see  polar  view,  fig.  3.) 
and  as  soon  as  it  cooled  it  would  begin  to  move 
south-eastward.  This  easterly  tendency  of  the 


OF  THE  SOUTHERN  HEMISPHERE.  33 

poleward  currents  render  large  polar  interspaces 
inevitable. 

I  have  described  the  currents  as  if  they  move  in 
straight  lines  from  point  'to  point,  but  the  truth  is 
they  must  move  in  curves.  The  current  from  the 
west  neutral  point  in  the  northern  hemisphere  be- 
gins by  moving  almost  due  north,  then  a  little  to 
east  of  north,  then  more  and  more  easterly,  until 
at  length  the  easting  is  so  great  that  the  current 
moves  due  east.  As  it  cools  it  begins  to  turn  a 
little  to  the  south  of  east,  then  flows  more  and 
more  southward,  until  it  ceases  to  move  eastward 
at  all,  and  for  a  very  short  distance  it  moves  al- 
most due  south.  But  soon  it  begins  to  turn  a  little 
westward,  then  more  and  more  westward,  until  at 
length  it  moves  due  west.  It  now  begins  to  be 
heated  and  to  turn  a  little  northerly,  then  more 
and  more  northerly  until  it  ceases  to  move  west- 
ward and  has  reached  its  neutral  point. 

From  this   brief  review  it  is  plain  that  all  the 

NOTE. — The  spots  on  the  sun  are  believed,  from  their  appearance,  to 
be  caused  by  whirlpools  in  the  solar  atmosphere.  They  are  generally 
arranged  near  the  thirtieth  degree  of  the  sun's  latitude,  and  on  each  side 
of  his  equator.  Is  it  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  these  whirls  are 
produced  by  north  and  south  movements  of  currents  in  the  sun's  at- 
mosphere ?  Those  who  have  heretofore  speculated  upon  the  subject, 
have  not  been  aware  that  an  interchange  of  currents  between  different 
latitudes  necessarily  produces  a  whirling  or  elliptical  movement. 

In  viewing  the  drawings  which  have  been  published,  of  the  appear- 
ances of  the  surface  of  the  planet  Mars,  we  perceive  the  curved  outlines  of 
what  may,  perhaps,  be  continents  and  oceans,  produced  by  currents 
analogous  to  those  of  our  oceans. 

Some  of  the  nebuke  seen  by  our  best  telescopes,  also  present  interior 
curves  and  ellipses,  which  may  possibly  be  accounted  for  on  the  samcs 
principle. 

4 


34  TUBNING  POINTS  IN  THE  ELLIPSES 

currents  tend  to  move  in  curved  lines.  We  can 
now  perceive  the  absurdity  of  the  idea,  which  is 
expressed  in  so  many  of  our  books",  that  the  trade 
winds  cause  the  equatorial  currents  to  move  wes- 
terly. The  fact  is  that  the  equatorial  currents 
generally  move  more  westerly  than  the  trade  winds 
do ;  and  the  elliptical  currents  on  their  polar  side, 
are  more  easterly  than  the  winds  that  blow  in  the 
same  latitude.  This  could  not  be  the  case  if  the 
winds-  caused  the  currents.  In  the  Pacific,  about 
10  degress  north  of  the  equator,  a  counter  current 
runs  easterly,  while,  on  each  side  of  it,  the  main 
currents  run  west.  If  the  currents  here  depend 
upon  the  winds  blowing  Avestward — what  produ- 
ces the  counter  current  which  flows  directly  against 
the  wind?  It  should  be  remarked  that  the  wind 
only  affects  the  ocean  a  few  feet  below  the  surface, 
whereas  many  of  the  currents  extend  thousands  of 
feet  below. 

Fig.  2.  represents  the  primitive  plan  or  symetri- 
cal  map  of  the  world  as  it  would  appear  if  the  six 
ellipses  had  operated  equally  and  uninterruptedly 
from  the  beginning  to  the  present  time.  The  six 
elliptical  currents  are  represented  by  connected  ar- 
rows, and  the  directions  of  the  local  inter-Q\lipticsil 
currents  represented  by  arrow  heads.  It  will  be 
seen  in  this  and  the  other  maps  that  the  local  cur- 
rents run  counter  to  the  elliptical  currents.  The 
local  currents  are  represented  as  running  only  in 
the  inter-elliptical  spaces. 


OP  THE  SOUTHERN  HEMISPHERE. 


35 


FIGURE  2. 
Primitive  Plan. 


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CRAHAM  S^-, 

.'            SOUTH 

LAND        _;<"' 

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"•-.„. 

^r-^        AFRICA 

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T        N 

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AMERICA 


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X 

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36          SYMMETRY  OF  THE  OCEANS 


THE  SYMMETRY  OF  THE  OCEANS  RELATED  TO 
THE  SEASONS. 

Let  us  enquire  why  the  north  and  south  Atlan- 
tic, north  and  south  Pacific,  and  north  and  south 
Indian  oceans  were  arranged  in  sugh  a  symmetrical 
manner  that  each  northern  ocean  had  a  southern 
ocean  directly  opposite  to  it.  Was  this  merely  ac- 
cidental? or  was  there  some  physical  or  dynami- 
cal cause  which  rendered  this  symmetrical  juxta- 
position of  the  oceans  necessary  ?  The  answer  is 
that  it  resulted  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  the 
changes  of  the  seasons.  If  the  axis  of  our  planet 
were,  like  that  of  Jupiter,  at  right  angles  to  its 
orbital  path,  I  have  no  idea  that  the  north  and 
south  oceans  would  have  been  arranged  symmetric- 
ally opposite.  The  northern  and  southern  hemi- 
spheres would  have  been  perfectly  independent  of 
each  other;  so  that  an  ocean  in  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere might  have  had  a  continent,  instead  of  an 
ocean,  opposite  to  it  in  the  southern.  But  the  axis 
of  the  earth  is  inclined  to  its  orbital  path;  so 
that  the  thermal  equator,  instead  of  constantly 
coinciding  with  the  geographical  equator,  travels 
north  and  south  several  degrees,  as  the  seasons 
change,  and  the  sun  moves  north  and  south  in  the 
ecliptic. 

In  mid  summer  the  sun  is  23£  degrees  north  of  the 
equator ;  and  the  cold  water  of  the  southern  hemi- 
sphere is  poured  in  under  currents,  into  the  north- 
ern oceans,  while  the  warm  water  in  return,*over- 


KELATED  TO  THE  SEASONS.          37 

flows,  in  compensating  quantities,  into  the  south- 
ern oceans.  In  mid-winter  the  reverse  happens : 
the  sun  is  23£  degrees  south  of  the  equator,  and 
the  cold  northern  currents  are  forced  into  the  south- 
ern oceans.  During  the  equinoxes,  there  is,  all 
else  equal,  an  equilibrium  of  the  waters  in  the  two 
hemispheres ;  neither  intrudes  upon  the  other.  But 
at  all  other  times  of  the  year,  there  is  a  continual 
interchange.  The  whole  current  of  one  hemis- 
phere does  not  enter  the  opposite  ocean,  but  only 
so  much  of  it  as  may  be  necessary  to  restore  the 
equilibrium  which  has  been  disturbed  by  the  change 
of  the  seasons ;  the  remainder  continues  to  circu- 
late in  its  own  hemisphere. 

The  course  which  the  intruding  current  pursues, 
after  it  crosses  the  equator  into  an  opposite  ocean, 
is,  all  else  equal,  the  same  as  that  of  the  proper 
current  of  that  ocean.  The  course  of  the  circula- 
tion of  the  two  oceans  together,  therefore',  may  be 
illustrated  by  a  figure  8,  the  crossing  being  at  the 
equator. 

After  this  explanation,  the  reason  is  evident  why 
the  three  oceans  were  placed  symmetrically  oppo- 
site to  each  other,  and  why  the  continents  are 
regularly  arranged  in  three  meridional  series.  • 

It  should  be  observed  that  there  is  no  isthmus,  or 
connection  by  dry  land,  east  and  west,  betAveen 
the  tropical  continents,  as  there  is  north  and  south 
between  the  tropical  and  the  northern  continents. 
While  North  and  South  America  are  connected  by 
the  isthmus  of  Central  America,  and  Asia  and 


SYMMETKY  OP  THE  OCEANS  38 

Australia  by  a  chain  of  islands  and  a  submarine 
isthmus, — there  is  no  isthmus,  nor  is  there  any 
chain  of  intermediate  islands,  between  South 
America  and  Australia,  or  between  Africa  and 
South  America.  The  reason  is  that  the  changes  of 
the  seasons  caused  a  movement  of  the  waters 
north  and  south,  between  the  two  oceans,  and  thus 
prevented  lands  from  rising  ;  but  no  such  move- 
ments occurred  in  an  east  and  west  direction.  If 
the  changes  of  the  seasons,  or  any  thing  else,  had 
caused  a  similar  annual  movement  of  the  ocean 
east  and  west,  between  North  and  South  America, 
the  connecting  dry  land  of  Central  America  would 
never  have  existed. 

The  northern  continents  are  nearly  connected, 
east  and  west,  in  the  polar  regions,  because  the 
elliptical  currents  did  not  extend  beyond  the  60th 
degree  north.  Besides,  the  three  northern  conti- 
nents are  normally  but  three  points,  or  projections 
of  a  triangle,  the  centre  of  which  is  at  the  pole. 
This  will  readily  be  seen  if  we  take  a  polar  view 
of  the  primitive  map  of  the  world. — (See  fig.  3.) 


SECTION  III. 

SINKING  OF  THE  OCEAN'S  FLOOR  BENEATH  THE 
WEIGHT  OF  THE  ACCUMULATED  SEDIMENT. 

f  |  ^HAT  the  central  portions  of  the  oceans  have 
JL  sunk,  and  that  their  borders  have  risen,  is  proved 
beyond  all  question.  The  evidence  accumulated 
upon  this  subject  by  Darwin  and  by  Dana,  in  Con- 
nection with  the  coral  reefs  and  islands,  is  highly 
instructive.  It  shows  that  the  depressions  have 
been  gradual  and  continuous,  in  the  same  locali- 
ties, from  the  earliest  geological  ages.  Many  of 
the  geological  formations  also  afford  the  most  posi- 
tive proofs  that  they  were  deposited  while  the 
crust  of  the  earth — the  ocean's  floor — was  slowrly 
subsiding.  Mr.  Lyell,  in  his  Manual  of  Geology 
says: 

"  The  structure  and  organic  contents  of  some  of  the  an- 
cient marine  formations,  point  to  the  conclusion,  that  the 
floor  of  the  ocean  was  slowly  sinking  at  the  time  of  their 
origin.  The  downward  movement  was  very  gradual,  and  in 
Wales  and  the  contiguous  parts  of  England,  a  maximum 
thickness  of  32,000  feet  (more  than  six  miles)  of  carbonifer- 
ous, devonian  and  silurian  rock  was  formed,  while  the  bed 
of  the  sea  was  all  the  time  continuously  and  tranquilly  sub- 
siding, The  sea  remained  shallow  all  the  while." 

"  Prof.  Ramsay  has  given  me,  (says  Darwin,)  the  maximum 
thickness,  in  most  cases  from  actual  measurement,  in  a  few 


40  SiNKING  OF  THE 


cases  from  estimates,  of  each  formation  in  different  parts  of 
Great  Britain,  and  this  is  the  result  : 

Feet. 

Paloezoic  strata,  not  including  igneous  -beds  ................    57,150. 

Secondary  .................................................    13,190. 

Tertiary  ..................................................      2,240. 

Making  nearly  thirteen  and  three-fourths  British  miles." 

Again,  Darwin  says  "  I  am  convinced  that  all  our  ancient 
formations  which  are  rich  in  fossils,  have  been  formed  dur- 
ing subsidence.  Since  publishing  my  views  on  this  subject 
in  1845,  I  have  watched  the  progress  of  geology,  and  have 
been  surprised  to  notice  how  author  after  author  in  treating 
of  this  or  that  formation,  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
was  accumulated  during  subsidence." 

Mr.  Dana  thinks  there  is  proof  that  a  por- 
tion of  the  Appalachian  region  subsided  not  less 
than  seven  miles,  before  it  was  elevated  to  its  pres- 
sent  position. 

Sir  John  Herschell  and  Mr.  Babbage  have  sug- 
gested that  possibly  the  weight  of  the  sediment, 
derived  from  the  abrasion  of  the  shores  by  the 
ocean  currents,  may,  in  some  places,  produce  de- 
pressions of  the  ocean's  floor  and  crowd  the  sub- 
jacent lava  up  under  the  dry  lands,  thus  producing 
volcanoes,  and  perhaps  adding  to  the  elevation  of 
lands  already  raised  above  the  sea.  They  have 
not  proposed  to  account  in  this  way  for  the  origi- 
nal formation  and  elevation  of  the  continents,  nor 
have  they  pointed  to  any  particular  locality  which 
they  propose  to  prove  to  have  been  elevated  in 
this  manner.  They  have  merely  thrown  out  the 
idea  as  a  plausible  conjecture,  which  is  not  incon- 


OCEAN'S  FLOOR.  41 

sistent  with  known  facts,  nor  with  dynamical  prin- 
ciples. Mr.  James  Hall,  the  distinguished  geolo- 
gist of  New  York,  in  his  latest  official  report,  has 
expresssed  his  approval  of  this  speculation. 

Without  knowing  anything  of  the  opinions  ex- 
pressed by  these  distinguished  authors,  I  was  led 
to  the  conclusion  that  all  elevations,  including  the 
continents,  were  caused  by  the  weight  of  oceanic 
sediment.  I  inferred  it  from  the  remarkable  rela- 
tions which  I  found  to  exist  between  the  directions 
of  the  currents  and  of  the  shores,  and  also  the  rel- 
ative positions  and  number  of  the  oceans  and  con- 
tinents. 

It  should  be  remarked,  that  if  it  were  perfectly 
demonstrated  that  the  weight  of  the  sediment  had 
produced  depressions,  and  consequent  elevations, 
this  fact  alone  would  be  of  but  little  value;  since  it 
woiild  throw  no  light  upon  the  forms,  number,  and 
arrangement  of  the  continents.  But  when  the 
true  theory  of  the  ocean  currents  comes  to  be  un- 
derstood, the  fact  of  the  distribution  of  the  sedi- 
ment, and  the  depressions  produced  by  its  weight, 
assumes  vast  importance.  If  it  is  objected  that  I 
cannot  directly  prove  that  elevations  are  produced 
in  this  manner,  and  that  therefore  the  idea  is  a 
mere  conjecture — I  answer,  that  it  is  true  we  cannot 
see  the  lava  moving  beneath  the  pressure  of  the 
ocean's  floor,  and  therefore  it  may  be  said  that  the 
geonomic  theory  does  not  admit  of  direct  occular 
proof;  but,  at  the  same  time,  to  a  philosophical 
mind,  the  evidence  is  of  such  a  nature  as  to  be 
4* 


42  SOURCES  OF 

quite  as  irresistable  as  occular  demonstration. 
Herschell  quotes  from  Lord  Bacon,  the  observation 
that  "the  confirmation  of  theories  relies  on  the 
compact  adaptation  of  their  parts,  by  which,  like 
those  of  an  arch  or  dome,  they  mutually  sustain 
each  other,  and  form  a  coherent  whole."  When 
we  consider  what  a  vast  number  and  variety  of 
facts  are  accounted  for  by  the  geonomic  theory  and 
by  no  other,  while  not  a  single  known  fact  can  be 
found  opposing  it,  our  minds  are  so  constituted 
that  we  cannot  resist  the  conviction  that  it  must 
be  true. 

SOURCES    OF    THE    SEDIMENT. 

It  is  supposed  by  some  authors  that  the  ocean 
currents  do  not  abrade  the  bottom  of  the  deep  sea ; 
and  therefore,  it  may  be  objected  to  the  geonomic 
theory  that,  when  the  ocean  covered  the  whole 
earth,  there  could  not  have  been  enough  sediment 
collected  to  cause  the  depression  of  the  earth's  crust 
by  its  weight.  It  must,  however,  be  considered, 
that  the  ocean  contains  an  abundance  of  other  ma- 
terials for  sediment  besides  those  obtained  by  the 
mechanical  abrasion  of  its  floor.  The  limestone 
formations,  some  of  them  several  miles  in  thickness, 
are  composed,  almost  entirely,  of  the  organic  re- 

As  soon  as  an  ocean  washed  the  consolidated  crust  of  the 
globe,  it  would  begin  to  abrade  the  surfaces  upon  which  it 
moved,  gradually  loosening  and  detatching  the  materials  to 
deposit  them  again. — AGASSIZ'  GEOLOGICAL  SKETCHES. 


THE  SEDIMENT.  43 

mains  of  creatures  that  have  lived  and  died  in  the 
ocean.  If  it  be  admitted  that  a  very  small  quan- 
tity of  chemico  vital  sediment  annually  settled  upon 
the  bed  of  the  primitive  sea,  geology  steps  in  with 
its  countless  ages,  and  magnifies  the  total  amount 
to  more  than  enough  for  all  the  purposes  of  our 
theory. 

Prof.  Philips,  in  his  Manual  of  Geology,  1859,  London  edi- 
tion, p.  G33,  remarks : — "  Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  of 
all  the  strata  yet  discovered,  limestone  is  exactly  that  which, 
by  the  regularity  and  continuity  of  its  beds,  by  the  extreme 
perfection  of  its  organic  contents  and  by  the  absence  of  proofs 
of  mechanical  action,  gives  most  completely  the  notion  of  a 
chemical  precipitate.  It  appears  sufficiently  probable,  in 
several  instances,  that  the  quantity  of  limestone  deposited  in 
a  given  geological  period  was  least  toward  the  shores,  and 
greatest  toward  the  deep  sea;  exactly  the  reverse  of  what 
happens  with  the  mechanical  deposits  of  sandstone  and 
shale  ;  it  may  therefore  be  viewed  as  an  oceanic  deposit  re- 
sulting from  a  decomposition  of  sea  water,  aided  in  many  in- 
stances to  a  wonderful  extent,  by  the  vital  products  of  zoo- 
phitic  and  moluscous  animals." 

Page  65  he  says  :  "  The  deposition  of  limestone  by  chemico- 
vital  precipitation  would  probably  happen  over  a  large  por 
tion  of  the  bed  of  the  sea,  and  be  abundant  in  proportion  to 
the  depth,  clearness  and  tranquility  of  the  water  ;  hence  strata 
of  limestone  would  thicken  toward  the  center  of  the  oceanic 
basin.  They  would  be  of  more  uniform  texture,  and  perhaps 
of  purer  composition,  in  that  direction." 

Page  50  :  "  The  attentive  observer  soon  learns  to  consider 
the  operations  by  which  sandstones  and  clays  were  accumu- 
lated, as  of  short  duration,  and  intermitting  action ;  while 


44  SOURCES  OF 

the  production  of  limestone  is  regarded  as  the  result  of  one 
continuous  and  almost  uninterrupted  series  of  chemical 
changes. 

"  The  carboniferous  system  in  South  Wales,  which  is  prin- 
cipally limestone,  is  more  than  two  and  a  half  mile  in  thick- 
ness." 

If  any  critic  still  insists  that  the  weight  of  the 
sediment  is  insufficient  to  account  for  depressions 
of  the  earth's  crust,  and  prefers  the  theory  of  Leib- 
nitz, that  the  radiation  of  heat  caused  the  intei'nal 
lava  to  contract  and  the  external  crust  to  fall  by 
its  own  weight ; — I  reply,  that  both  theories  maybe 
true,  since  one  of  them  does  not  necessarily  exclude 
the  other.  We  may  admit  that  the  internal  molten 
lava  did  cool  and  shrink  so  that  the  crust  fell  down 
upon  it,  and  then  ask — would  it  not  be  certain  to 
fall,  in  preference,  in  those  places  where  the  oceanic 
sediment  added  most  to  its  weight  ? 

When  to  this  consideration  we  add  the  fact  that 
the  elevations  and  depressions  coincide  with  the 
ocean  currents,  is  not  the  proof  corfclusive  ? 

NOTE.— RELATION  or  OCEANIC  DEPRESSIONS  TO  THE  MAGNETIC  LINES 
OF  NO  VARIATION. --The  mariner's  compass  is  commonly  supposed  to  point 
north  and  south,  but  this  is  not  the  case  in  all  places.  It  has  been  found  to 
yary  to  the  east  or  west,  though  much  more  in  some  places  than  in  others. 
It  has  been  discovered,  however,  that  there  is  a  line  extending  irregularly 
east  and  west  across  Europe  and  the  Atlantic  to  America,  on  which  the 
compass  does  not  vary,  but  points  due  north  and  south.  This  line,  called 
"the  line  of  no  variation,"  is  not  permanent,  but,  from  some  unknown 
cause,  slowly  changes  its  location,  moving  in  one  direction  forty  or  fifty 
years,  and  then  returning  again  to  nearly  its  former  position. 

May  it  not  be  that  these  changes  of  the  line  are  owing  to  the  alternate 
movements  of  the  lava  beneath  the  earth's  crust,  consequent  upon  the 
varying  weight  and  pressure  of  the  ocean's  bed? 


PRIMITIVE  PLAN.  45 


PRIMITIVE   PLAN   OR   SYMMETICAL    MAP    OF   THE 

SURFACE    OF   THE   GLOBE,   ACCORDING   TO 

THE   GEONOMIC    THEORY. 

The  forces  which  produced  the  elliptical  currents, 
namely,  the  sun's  heat  and  the  earth's  rotation, 
were  definite,  fixed  and  unchangeable  in  amount. 
Each  ellipse  must  therefore  have  had  a  definite  di- 
ameter north  and  south,  as  well  as  east  and  west ; 
and  the  six  primitive  ellipses  were  probably  nearly 
equal  to  each  other.  It  might,  without  experience, 
be  a  difficult,  though  perhaps  not  an  unanswerable 
question,  as  to  how  many  ellipses  could,  under  the 
circumstances,  occupy  the  surface  of  the  globe. 
Fortunately,  however,  we  are  saved  the  trouble  ot 
making  the  calculation.  The  actual  map  of  the 
world,  especially  the  geological  map,  affords  abun- 
dant evidence  that  there  were  three  pairs  of  oceans, 
and  no  more.  If  the  six  oceanic  depressions  had 
been  equal,  the  intervening  elevations  would  also 
have  been  equal,  and  the  map  of  the  world  would 
have  been  perfectly  symmetrical  (see  fig.  2) ;  there 
would  have  been  three  meridional  series  of  eleva- 
tions, three  continents  in  each  series,  namely:  a 
northern  continent,  shaped  like  North  America, 
though  smaller;  a  tropical  continent,  resembling 
South  America ;  and  a  southern  continent,  project- 
ing from  the  antarctic  region,  as  North  America 
does  from  the  arctic,  and  resembling  North  Amer- 
ica in  form.  The  borders  of  the  continents  would 
have  been  elevated  into  mountains,  and  their  inte- 


46  PRIMITIVE  PL  AX  OF  THE 

riors  depressed,  constituting  shallow  interior  basins. 
The  northern  continents  would,  in  form,  all  have 
been  pointed  toward  the  south,  and  the  southern 
continents  pointed  toward  the  north.  The  tropical 
continents  would  have  been  pointed  north,  south, 
east  and  west ;  they  would  be  hollowed  out  on  the 
western  sides,  one  hollow  on  each  side  of  the  equa- 
tor, produced  by  local  currents  moving  obliquely 
eastward  (see  fig.  2),  and  they  would  be  connected 
by  ithsmuses  with  the  arctic  and  also  with  the  ant- 
arctic continents. 

I  cannot  well  understand  wThy  the  north  and 
south  Atlantic  pair  was  made  smaller  than  the 
other  two  pairs  of  oceans.  Was  it  because  there 
was  not  room  enough  east  and  west,  in  each  hem- 
isphere, for  three  fully  developed  ellipses?  and 
was  it  therefore  necessary  that  one  of  the  three 
pairs  of  oceans  should  be  forced  to  take  a  smaller 
division  than  the  others  ? 

I  have  described  North  America,  north-west 
Europe,  and  north-east  Asia,  as  three  distinct  con- 
tinents ;  but,  taking  a  polar  view  of  the  primitive 
plan,  we  perceive  that  there  was  really  but  one 
north  polar  continent,  (see  fig.  3,)  of  a  triangu- 
lar form ;  North  America  being  one  of  the  projec- 
tions of  the  triangle,  north-west  Europe  another, 
and  north-east  Asia  a  third.  Strictly  speaking, 
therefore,  there  were  but  five  primitive  continents, 
namely:  one  northern,  with  three  projections  point- 
ing southward;  one  southern,  with  three  projec- 
tions pointing  northward ;  and  three  tropical  con- 


SURFACE  OF  THE  GLOBE.  47 

tinents,  each  of  a  quadrilateral  form. — (see  figs.  2 
and  3.) 

FIGURE  3. 

Primitive  plan  of  the  Northern  Hemisphere  in  a 
Polar  vieic. 


SECTION  IV. 

LOCAL  CURRENTS. 

IF  two  currents  proceed  from  near  the  equator 
(or  from  any  lower  latitude  to  a  higher,)  one  of 
which  is  local  and  the  other  a  part  of  an  ellipse, 
they  will  not  both  run  in  the  same  direction.  The 
elliptical  current  will,  in  the  northern  hemispHere, 
move  north-west,  and  the  local  current  north-east. 
If  two  such  currents  proceed  from  the  north 
towards  the  equator,  the  elliptical  current  will  run 
south-east,  and  the  local  current  south-west.  In 
the  southern  hemisphere  the  same  is  true,  but  the 
directions  are  reversed.  If  two  such  currents  pro- 
ceed from  one  of  the  neutral  points  in  an  ellipse, 
they  will  both  run  in  the  same  direction.  Any  one 
who  doubts  the  correctness  of  these  principles,  has 
only  to  apply  them  to  the  cases  of  the  actual  cur- 
rents to  find  that  they  encounter  no  exceptions,  but 
that  every  ocean  current  known  is  perfectly  ac- 
counted for  by  them. 

I  can  understand  that  there  might  be  a  semi- 
elliptical  local  current,  under  peculiar  local  circum- 
stances. If,  for  instance,  the  warm  Norway  cur- 
rent that  enters  the  Arctic  sea,  moving  in  a  north- 
east direction,  could  move  unobstructed,  it  would 


LOCAL  CURRENTS.  49 

flow  out  of  the  Arctic  again  in  a  south-east  direc- 
tion, thus  pursuing  a  semi-elliptical  path. 

Each  of  the  five  great  oceans  contains  one  ellipti- 
cal current,  besides  its  local  currents.  The  latter 
are  necessary  to  give  circulation  to  the  water  which 
is  located  between  the  ellipses,  or  between  the 
shores  and  the  ellipses.  I  know  of  no  instance 
where  a  local  current  exists  within  the  boundaries 
of  an  ellipse.  Before  the  continents  emerged  from 
the  sea,  the  water  above  them,  not  being  included 
within  the  ellipses,  must  all  have  possessed  local 
currents,  the  operations  of  which  must  have  some- 
what modified  the  forms  of  the  continents. 

Each  of  the  tropical  continents  must  have  had 
two  local  counter  currents;  one  on  the  north  side  of 
the  equator,  which  moved  north-east ;  and  another 
on  the  south  side,  which  moved  south-east.  The 
tendency  of  these  two  currents  was  to  hollow  out 
the  tropical  continents  on  their  westera.  sides. 
Thus  one  of  the  hitherto  puzzling  problems  of 
physical  geography  is  solved. 

The  waters  over  the  rising  polar  continents  must 
also  have  possessed  local  currents  before  the  dry 
land  appeared;  and  they  must  have  made  ter- 
rible havoc  with  the  lands  that  were  about  emerg- 
ing from  beneath  the  sea.  I  imagine  that  each 
of  the  three  great  northern  ellipses  must  have  sent 
offsets,  or  local  currents,  into  the  polar  sea.  These 
currents  were  each  analogous  to  the  Norway  cur- 
rent that  now  enters  the  Arctic.  One  similar  to 
the  Norway  current  entered  through  Behring's 
5 


50  LOCAL  CURRENTS. 

Strait,  when  that  passage  was  unobstructed;  and  a 
current  of  the  same  character  entered  from  the 
North  Indian  ocean. 

ACTUAL  LOCAL  CURRENTS. 
NORWAY  CURRENT. 

The  current  that  runs  north-east  along  the  coast 
of  Norway,  is  generally  regarded  as  a  continuation 
of  the,  so  called,  gulf  stream,  or  north  Atlantic 
ellipse  But  it  appears  to  me  to  be  only  a  local 
current,  produced  by  the  wants  of  the  land-locked 
Arctic  sea.  The  cold  waters  that  flow  out  of  that 
sea,  along  the  coast  of  Greenland,  render  it  nec- 
essary that  a  warm  current  should  flow  into  it 
from  the  Atlantic.  The  Norway  current  would 
therefore  exist,  even  if  the  gulf  stream  were  to  stop, 
or  if  it  were  to  flow  west  instead  of  east. 

If  the  communications  of  the  Atlantic  with  the 
Arctic  were  cut  off,  all  the  water  that  now  flows 
into  the  Arctic,  through  the  Norway  channel,  would 
flow  south-east  to  the  African  coast,  and  thence  to 
the  equator ;  in  a  word  it  would  be  analogous  to 
the  north  Pacific  current.  But,  as  it  now  is,  the 
water  flows  north-east  into  the  Arctic,  and  would 
flow  out  again  south-east,  producing  another  "  drift 
period,"  if  the  elevation  of  the  coast  did  not  pre- 
sent an  impassible  barrier.  The  current  is  forced 
to  turn  upon  itself  and  flow  out  of  the  Arctic  south- 
west, through  the  channel  between  Greenland  and 
Iceland.  Some  writers  describe  the  current  that 


LOCAL  CURRENTS.  51 

flows  out  of  Baffin's  sea  as  coming  from  the  Arctic 
sea ;  and  perhaps  a  very  small  portion  of  it  has 
come  through  the  strait  of  Fury;  but  I  suspect 
that  most  of  the  water  that  flows  out  of  Baffin's 
sea  is  the  same  as  that  Avhich  previously  entered 
it  from  the  Atlantic.  In  other  words  Baffin's  sea 
is  a  mere  repetition  of  the  Arctic  sea;  which  has 
a  current  flowing  in  on  its  eastern  side,  and  another 
flowing  out  on  its  western  side. 

GUINEA  LOCAL   CURRENT. 

On  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  a  local  warm  cur- 
rent is  generated,  which  is  called  the  Guinea  cur- 
rent. It  flows  south  and  east  into  the  Gulf  of 
Guinea,  beyond  wrhich  it  cannot  now  be  traced. 
Lieut.  Maury  says  that  it  goes  to  the  Falkland 
islands,  and  warms  the  Patagonian  coast.  This 
is  incredible.  Why  should  a  warm  current  like 
this,  flowing  from  the  equator,  move  westward 
across  the  south  Atlantic  ?  It  is  contrary  to  Lieut. 
Maury's  own  principles. 

CAPE  HORN  LOCAL  CURRENT. 

A  current,  which  may  be  denominated  the  Cape 
Horn  local  current,  is  generated  near  the  coast  of 
Chili  and  Peru.  It  is  analogous  to  the  Guinea 
local  current,  and  runs  south  to  Cape  Horn,  be- 
tween the  coast  and  the  cold  elliptical  current. 
When  this  warm  local  current  reaches  Cape  Horn, 
it  has  acquired  so  much  easting  that  it  is  impelled 


52  LOCAL  CURRENTS. 

to  flow  eastward,  around  the  Cape,  into  the  south 
Atlantic  and  among  the  Falkland  islands. 

The  cold  current  from  the  antarctic,  which,  near 
Peru,  is  known  as  the  Humboldt  current,  flows 
north  along  the  South  American  coast  to  Chili  and 
Peru,  chilling  the  climate  of  those  shores ;  while 
the  local  current  flows  in  the  contrary  direction, 
and  warms  the  shores  of  the  Patagonian  and  Fue 
gean  coasts. 

All  the  writers  on  this  subject  describe  this  great 
current  as  flowing  cold  from  the  antarctic,  and 
"  dividing  into  two  branches,"  one  of  which,  after 
reaching  Chili  and  getting  warm,  turns  back,  and 
flows  around  Cape  Horn.  According  to  our  theory 
this  cannot  be  true.  The  Humboldt  and  the  ant- 
arctic currents  are  parts  of  the  south  Pacific  ellipse, 
and  cannot  flow  back.  The  Cape  Horn  counter 
current  is  distinct,  independent  and  local. 

There  is  a  remarkable  local  counter-current,  in 
the  triangular  space  between  the  west  coast  of  Cen- 
tral America 'and  the  two  great  elliptical  currents 
of  the  Pacific  ocean,  about  10  degrees  north  of  the 
equator.  It  seems  to  be  generated  in  mid-ocean, 
and  flows  east  and  north,  as  a  warm  local  current 
in  that  situation  must.  It  has  hitherto  seemed 
strange  and  anomalous,  that  two  great  equatorial 
currents,  one  north  of  the  equator  and  the  other 
mostly  south  of  it,  should  be  flowing  constantly 
due  west,  and  yet  that  between  the  two  (but  nearer 
to  the  American  than  to  the  Asiatic  coast)  a  warm 
counter  current  be  flowing  east  and  north-eastward. 


LOCAL  CUERENTS.  53 

Our  theory  solves  the  enigma,  by  showing  the  dis- 
tinction between  elliptical  and  local  currents.  An 
elliptical  current  must  always  flow  westward  near 
the  equator,  while  a  local  current  must,  in  the  same 
latitude,  flow  eastward.  There  is  a  local  current 
flowing  in  and  out  of  the  Ochotsk  sea,  analogous  to 
that  which  flows  in  and  out  of  Baflins  sea;  and 
doubtless  there  are  other  interior  currents  of  a  simi- 
lar character  in  the  Alleutian,  Japan,  Chinese,  and 
other  minor  seas  along  this  coast. 

In  the  Indian  ocean,  the  elliptical  current,  accord- 
ing to  the  authorities,  is  all  south  of  the  equator. 
It  flows  from  a  point  near  the  equator,  and  south 
of  it,  along  the  east  coast  of  south  Africa.  It  is 
divided  by  the  island  of  Madagascar,  a  part»flow- 
ing  between  the  island  and  the  continent,  and  the 
rest  flowing  outside  of  the  island ;  but,  before 
reaching  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  the  two  divisions 
unite,  and  are  then  called  "  the  Lagullas  current." 

It  has  long  been  supposed  that  this  current  passes 
entirely  around  the  Cape  into  the  Atlantic,  and 
then  flows  north.  According  to  the  principles  of 
geonomy,  this  is  impossible.  The  current  possesses 
so  much  westing  that  it  flows  into  the  Atlantic  a 
short  distance,  and  then  turns  and  flows  eastward 
and  southward  to  the  antarctic  coast.  The  actual 
observations  of  navigators  seem,  to  have  convinced 
Lieut.  Maury  that  this  was  the  true  state  of  the 
case,  and  our  theory  of  the  currents  confirms  the 
idea.  Prof.  Guyot  has  also,  in  his  map  of  the  world, 


54  LOCAL  CUEEENTS. 

indicated  that  this  current  flows  in  the  manner  I 
have  described. 

There  is  a  large  land-locked  space  north  of  the 
equator,  in  the  Indian  ocean,  the  water  of  which 
does  not  obtain  its  needed  circulation  by  means  of 
the  south  Indian  ocean  ellipse,  and  must  therefore 
depend  upon  its  local  currents.  It  is  said  by  Lieut. 
Maury  that  the  Lagullas  current  "  has  its  genesis 
in  the  Arabian  sea,"  but  this  cannot  be  true.  A 
current  that  is  generated  in  that  sea  must  flow 
south-east,  if  it  crosses  the  equator,  and  north-east, 
if  it  does  not.  It  cannot  manifest  the  westerly 
tendency  that  the  Lagullas  current  does,  unless  it 
has  previously  flowed  a  considerable  distance  south- 
west. Probably  the  Arabian  and  Bengal  seas  send 
a  very  large  proportion  of  their  warm  waters 
into  the  north  Pacific,  where  they  flow  north- 
eastward along  the  Asiatic  coast.  Prof.  Guyot  rep- 
resents the  current  as  flowing  south-west  from  the 
Arabian  sea  across  the  equator,  and  along  the  east 
African  coast.  But  according  to  our  theory,  this 
must  be  a  mistake — unless  the  current  first  enters 
the  Arabian  sea  from  the  south,  and  brings  its 
westing  with  it. 

According  to  the  received  theory,  the  warm 
ctirrent  that  flows  south  along  the  east  coast 
of  Africa,  should  flow  south-east.  Its  warmth 
tends  it  toward  the  pole,  and  the  earth's  rotation 
tends  to  force  it  eastward.  Why,  then,  does  it 
show  such  a  strong  westerly  tendency,  keeping 
close  to  the  eastern  shore  of  Africa,  and,  as  it  were, 


LOCAL  CURRENTS.  55 

^attempting  to  escape  westward  around  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  ?  The  old  theories  give  no  reason  for 
this,  though  all  authors  state  the  fact.  According 
to  the  geonomic  theory,  the  reason  is  plain  enough. 
The  current  comes  from  the  antarctic  region  to  the 
equator,  and  brings  a  large,  quantity  of  westing 
with  it ;  and  when  returning  northward  it  exhibits 
this  Avesting  by  forcing  itself  against  the  African 
coast,  and  partially  turning  around  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope.  Probably  the  peculiar  form  of  the 
Cape — rounded  on  its  eastern  side — was  caused  by 
this  current.  On  the  same  principle,  Cape  Horn 
received  its  form  from  the  local  current  that  passes 
around  it  in  an  eastern  direction. 

SEASON  CURRENTS  OF  THE  INDIAN  OCEAN. 

There  are  currents  in  the  Indian  ocean,  north  of 
the  equator,  which  flow  alternately  in  a  northerly 
and  a  southerly  direction.  These  changes  have 
been  generally  attributed  to  the  influences  of  the 
monsoon  or  season  winds ;  and  it  is  possible  that 
they  have  some  agency  in  producing  them,  but  I 
very  much  doubt  it.  I  suspect  that  the  same 
causes  that  produce  monsoon  or  season  winds,  also 
produce  monsoon  or  season  currents,  in  the  land- 
locked seas  that  wash  the  shores  of  Arabia  and 
India.  When  the  sun  is  in  the  north,  the  Indian 
waters  north  of  the  equator  are  the  most  heated 
of  all  the  seas  on  the  globe.  They  are  much 
warmer  than  the  waters  at  the  equator.  Under 


56  LOCAL  CUERENTS. 

these  circumstances,  there  will  naturally  be  a  cur- 
rent from  the  equator  northward,  the  water  of 
which  will  ultimately  find  its  way  north-east  into 
the  Pacific.  In  mid-winter,  when  the  sun  is  in  the 
south,  the  waters  at  the  equator  must  be  warmer 
than  those  along  the  south  Asiatic  coast;  and  local 
currents  therefore  flow  south-east  toward  the  equa- 
tor. I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  a  single  instance 
in  which  a  constant  or  periodical  current  of  the 
ocean  is  produced  by  the  wind.  The  fact  that  the 
winds  frequently  coincide  with  the  ocean  currents, 
merely  proves  that  the  currents  of  the  ocean  and 
of  the  atmosphere  are  both  produced  at  the  same 
time. by  a  common  cause. 


SECTION  V. 

DERANGEMENT  OF  THE  CURRENTS  AND  THE 

CONSEQUENT  CHANGES  IN  THE  SHORES 

AND  CONTINENTS. 

IN  examining  the  north  and  south  Pacific,  we  find 
that  there  is  a  permanent  cause  of  disturbance 
between  the  two  oceans.  The  land  near  Behring's 
strait  is  elevated,  so  as  to  prevent  any  effectual 
communication  with  the  cold  waters  of  the  Arctic 
sea ;  consequently,  the  elliptical  current  does  not 
approach  within  35  degrees  of  the  north  pole,  while, 
in  the  south  Pacific,  it  reaches  within  at  least  25 
degrees  of  the  south  pole.  The  consequence  is 
that  when  the  two  currents  meet  at  the  equator, 
one  from  the  north  and  the  other  from  the  south, 
they  differ  in  temperature,  even  during  the  equi- 
noxes ;  and  therefore,  the  warmer  current  from  the 
north  must  overflow  into  the  south  Pacific,  and  the 
colder  south  Pacific  current  underflow  in  the  con- 
trary direction. 

Whether  this  inequality  of  the  two  oceans  was 
caused  by  the  elevation  of  the  Arctic  lands,  or  the 
depression  of  those  in  the  Antarctic,  or  by  both 
combined,  it  is  not  very  easy  to  conjecture,  but  the 
immediate  effect  was  to  produce  a  permanent  de- 
rangement or  obliquity  of  the  circulation  in  both 
oceans  and  a  corresponding  change  in  the  shore 
6 


58  DERANGEMENT  OF 

lines.  Let  us  assume  that  the  land  in  the  north 
prevented  the  current  from  going  beyond  the  35th 
degree  of  north  latitude,  while  the  depression  in 
the  Antarctic  region  allowed  it  to  flow  to  the  70th 
degree  of  south  latitude.  What  coiirse  did  the  cur- 
rent necessarily  pursue  ?  and  in  what  respects  did 
its  path  differ  from  that  of  the  normal  and  primitive 
current  when  the  two  oceans  were  equal  ? 

1.  Commencing  at   Behring's  strait  it  did  not 
move  as  far  south-east,  and  therefore  it  promoted 
the  elevation  of  the  western  side  of  North  America. 

2.  After  crossing  the  equator  it  had  less  westing, 
and  therefore  it  probably  did  not  reach  the  coast 
of  Australia,  but  turned  south  and  south-east  near 
the  east  side  of  New  Zealand ;  possibly  it  was  the 
means  of  causing  the  elevation  of  that  island ;  for 
its  geology  indicates  that  it  was  elevated  subse- 
quently to  Australia. 

3.  The  invading  current,  not   having  communi- 
cated with  the  Arctic  sea,  was  abnormally  warm 
when  it  crossed  the  equator,  and  therefore  ap- 
proached nearer  to  the  south   pole  to  get  cooled. 
We  will  assume  that  it  reached  the  70th  degree  of 
south  latitude*     It  had  now  acquired  an  abnormal 
quantity  of  easting,  and,  of  course,  it   moved  an 
abnormal  distance  south-east,  thence  due  east,  and 
then  north-east.     It  could  not  do  this  without 
overflowing  the  then  rising  and  normal  continent 
of  Graham's  Land  in  antarctic  America,  and  also  the 
rising  continent  of  tropical  (South)  America.    Did 
not  this  cause  the    present    continent  of  South 


THE  CUREENTS.  59 

America  to  be  placed  further  east  than  it  would 
otherwise  have  been  ?  And  was  not  this  one  cause 
of  the  narrowness  of  the  south  Atlantic  ? 

4.  When  the  current   on  its  return  reached  the 
equatorial  region,  it  had  travelled  70  degrees  of 
latitude,  and,  therefore,  possessed  a  great  amount 
of  westing ;   consequently,  it  moved  an  abnormal 
distance  westward  before  it  re-crossed  the  equator, 
and  also  after  it  had  re-crossed  it.    Of  course  it  must 
have  overflowed  the  rising  and  normal  continent 
of  tropical  Australia,  which  was  then  divided  into 
two  equal  halves  by  the  equator.    (See  the  symme- 
trical map.)     Is  not  this  the  reason  why  the  pres- 
ent Australia  is  crowded  so  far  south  ?  and  why  the 
archipelago  between  it  and  Asia  has  the  appear- 
ance of  a  wrecked  continent  ? 

5.  When  the  current  had  re-crossed  the  equator, 
moving  in  a  north-west   direction,  did  it  give  form 
and  a  westerly  direction  to  the  islands  that  lay 
in  its  path  through  the  East   Indies  ?    Did  it  in- 
trude upon  the  domain  of  the  north  Indian  ocean, 
and  contribute  to .  the  destruction  of  that  basin  ? 
It  certainly  must  have  moved  an  abnormal  distance 
west,  and  north-west ;  and  the  actual  departure  of 
the  present  Pacific  outlines  from  the  primitive  sym- 
metrical map,  are  precisely  such  as  this  deranged 
current  would  produce.    If,  on  a  symmetrical  map, 
we  mark  the  path  of  this  current,  thus  deranged,  and 
observe  where  it  varies  from  the  primitive  path, 
we  shall  find  that  we  have  unconsciously  drawn  the 
actual  outline  of  the  Pacific, 


60 


THE  CTJEEEJfTS. 
FlGUEE  4. 


In  fig.  4,  tlie  normal  and  primitive  currents  of  the  north 
and  soutli  Pacific  are  represented  by  continuous  lines,  and 
the  present  deranged  currents  by  dotted  lines.  The  land  is 
represented  as  elevated  in  the  north  so  as  to  exclude  the 
warm  current  from  the  Arctic,  and  to  cause  it  to  vary  as  al- 
ready described,  and  as  the  dotted  line  represents.  S.  P. 
south  Pacific,  N.  P.,  north  Pacific.  The  reader  will  of  course 
understand  that  fig.  4  is  merely  a  diagram,  used  to  convey  a 
complicated  general  idea,  and  is  not  intended  to  represent 
the  actual  currents. 


SECTION  VI. 

PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  AND  ITS  RELATIONS 

TO  THE  NEW  THEORY  OF  THE 

OCEAN  CURRENTS. 


study  of  physical  geography  has  hitherto 
JL  been  little  more  than  what  the  word  literally 
implies,  that  is,  a  description  of  the  principal  na- 
tural features  of  the  earth's  surface,  without  a  phi- 
losophical explanation  of  their  causes.  We  are 
now  enabled  to  look  deeper  into  the  matter,  and  to 
study  the  terrestrial  masses  and  oceanic  basins,  with 
a  better  knowledge  of  the  dynamical  agencies  that 
created  them  and  gave  them  their  relative  posi- 
tions and  forms.  The  continents,  mountains  and 
islands  are  no  longer  unmeaning  objects,  with 
varying  elevations  and  outlines,  that  impress  our 
minds  with  vague  wonder.  They  are  historic 
monuments  of  the  events  of  ages  so  vast,  that 
human  generations  are  but  as  moments  in  the  com- 
parison. The  surface  of  the  globe  is  covered  with 
ancient  hieroglyphics,  the  alphabet  of  which  is 
now  known  ;  and  which,  Avhen  properly  translated, 
are  found  to  contain  the  divinest  poetry  of  nature. 
To  understand  the  present  actual  map  of  the 
world,  we  must  regard  it  as  a  distortion  of  the  primi- 
tive map.  In  comparing  the  two,  we  find  in  the  act- 
ual map  some  remarkable  departures  and  discrepan- 


62  PHYSICAL 

cies ;  so  great  indeed  are  they,  in  some  places,  that 
the  original  features  are  scarcely  discernable,  except 
to  the  eye  of  science.  In  studying  any  science,  we 
are  frequently  obliged  to  discriminate  between  the 
normal  and  the  abnormal  results  of  nature's  laws. 
"When  accounting  for  any  natural  production,  we 
must  first  inquire  what  form  or  mode  it  would  as- 
sume if  no  disturbing  causes  were  interposed.  This 
being  determined,  we  are  better  able  to  account 
for  the  forms  and  conditions  that  actually  exist. 
Thus,  physiology  is  the  science  of  the  functions  of 
organs  in  their  normal  and  healthful  state ;  and  that 
must  be  well  understood  before  the  diseased  con- 
ditions of  these  same  organs,  and  their  departures 
from  health,  can  be  comprehended. 

Applying  this  principle  to  the  actual  continents 
and  oceans,  we  first  ascertain  that  the  ocean 
primitively  covered  the  globe.  We  next  demon- 
strate that  the  oceanic  waters  must  necessarily 
have  become  divided  into  a  definite  number 
of  ellipses;  and  we  find,  by  a  mere  inspec- 
tion of  the  common  and  geological  maps,  that 
there  actually  were  three  ellipses  in  the  northern 
and  three  in  the  southern  hemisphere,  and  that 
they  were  arranged  symmetrically  opposite  each 
other.  We  now  make  a  diagram  map  as  a  stand- 
ard, or  representative  of  the  primitive  plan  in  all 
its  simplicity ;  and  we  say — such  would  have  been 
the  present  map  of  the  world  if  nothing  had  inter- 
fered with  the  equal  operation  of  the  six  ellipses 
of  currents.  (See  fig.  2.)  We  next  consider  the 


GEOGRAPHY.  63 

local  currents  that  must  have  been  generated  in 
the  inter-elliptical  spaces,  and  take  into  account 
the  effects  which  they  must  have  had  upon  the 
forms  of  the  primitive  continents.  We  find  that 
they  would  naturally  tend  to  hollow  out  the  tropi- 
cal continents  on  their  western  sides,  and  to  pro- 
duce much  more  serious  effects  upon  the  polar  con' 
tinents.  Next  we  consider  the  changes  of  the  sea' 
sons  and  their  effects  upon  the  currents,  and  con- 
sequently upon  the  relative  positions  of  the  north 
and  south  continents  and  oceans.  We  find 
that  they  tend  to  produce  symmetry,  by  bring' 
ing  each  northern  ocean  directly  opposite  a  south' 
crn  ocean,  and  each  northern  continent  opposite  a 
southern  continent.  Having  thus  settled  these 
principles,  ascertained  the  primitive  forms  and 
positions,  and  made  them  standards  of  compari' 
son, — we  are  prepared  to  enquire  how  far  the 
present  actual  map  of  the  world,  and  of  each 
continent  and  ocean,  is  a  departure  from  the 
primitive  plan.  We  can  also  form  some  idea 
of  the  nature  of  the  deranging  processes,  by  the 
influence  of  which  the  present  distorted  map  was 
produced. 

The  three  tropical  continents  (see  fig.  2,)  of  the 
primitive  map  are  now  imperfectly  represented  by 
South  America,  Africa,  and  Australia.  The  three 
northern  continents  by  North  America,  north- 
western Europe,  and  north-eastern  Asia.  The 
three  Antarctic  continents,  or  projections  of  the 
primitive  plan,  have  but  a  few  vestiges  remain- 


64  PHYSICAL 

ing.  Graham's  Land  and  South  Shetland,  project- 
ing from  the  Antarctic,  opposite  Patagonia,  is  a 
poor  apology  for  a  continent  that  should  be  the 
counterpart  of  North  America.  When  viewed, 
however,  on  a  polar  projection  map,  Graham's 
Land,  though  small,  has  nearly  the  same  form  as 
North  America.  It  should  be  remarked  that  it  is 
pointed  toward  the  north,  as  all  the  Antarctic 
projections  are,  and  as,  according  to  the  geonomic 
theory,  they  should  be. 

The  other  two  primitive  Antarctic  continents,  or 
projections,  are  much  more  defective.  The  Tas- 
man  sea,  which  separates  Australia  from  the  Ant- 
arctic coast,  is  probably  very  shallow  compared 
with  the  great  oceans  east  and  west  of  it ;  and, 
therefore,  when  the  physical  map  of  the  whole 
sea  bed  is  completed,  perhaps  it  will  appear  that 
a  deformed  submai'ine  continent  exists  there. 

The  southern  side  of  Australia  is  probably  hol- 
lowed out  by  local  currents  that  flow  north-west 
from  the  Antarctic  coast. 


GEOGRAPHY. 

FIGURES  5  AND  6. 
--          ^ 

AUSTRALIA 

X 


65 


HP 


N,  ATLANTIC 
00 


66  PHYSICAL 

Figures  5  and  6  are  well  calculated  to  give  a  good  idea 
of  the  geonomic  theory.  Figure  5  is  a  repetition  of  figure  3, 
and  represents  the  northern  hemisphere  according  to  theory, 
while  figure  6  represents  the  southern  hemisphere  as  it 
actually  exists.  The  form  of  the  Antarctic  continent  is 
copied  from  Dr.  Hitchcock's  Geology  of  the  Globe.  The 
arrows  on  figure  6  represent  very  nearly  the  actual  courses 
of  the  great  southern  currents.  Their  agreement  with 
theory  is  remarkable.  The  positions  of  the  lands  in  the  inter- 
spaces are  almost  equally  in  harmony  with  geonomy. 

The  northern  continents  seem  to  be  developed  to 
an  enormous  extent  at  the  expense  of  those  in  the 
southern  hemisphere.  Is  it  not  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  the  depression  of  one  hemisphere  was 
the  cause  of  the  greater  elevation  of  the  other? 
Not  only  is  there  a  disproportion  and  irregularity 
in  the  relative  magnitudes  of  the  continents,  but 
also  in  their  forms  and  relative  positions.  Com- 
pare Africa  and  Europe,  with  their  short  connect- 
ing isthmus  or  neck,  and  the  narrow  Mediterranean 
betweeen  them,  with  Australia  and  Asia,  their  long 
disjointed  neck,  and  the  wide. expanse  of  interven- 
ing water. 

The  true  primitive  characters  of  Europe  and 
Asia  are  also  very  much  disguised.  They  are  fre- 
quently spoken  of  as  the  "  great  continent,"  but 
geonomy  informs  us  that  this  "  great  continent," 
includes  not  only  two  primitive  continents,  but 
also  a  large  portion  of  the  bed  of  the  north  Indian 
ocean. 


GEOGKAPHY. 

FIGUKB  7. — Map  of  ike   World. 


68  PHYSICAL 

Fig.  7  is  a  map  of  the  world  drawn  on  Mercator's  pro- 
jection, representing,  in  a  general  manner,  the  ocean  cur- 
rents, very  nearly  as  they  run.  The  local  currents  are 
represented  by  mere  arrow  heads, — one  moves  north-west 
from  the  Antarctic ;  another  around  Cape  Horn  ;  another 
south-east  into  the  Gulf  of  Guinea.  One  runs  north-east 
along  the  Norway  coast  into  the  Arctic,  and  another  south- 
west out  of  it  along  the  east  coast  of  Greenland.  Notice 
that  the  directions  of  the  local  currents  in  the  tropics  are 
calculated  to  hollow  out  the  western  sides  of  the  continents. 
These  currents  must  have  been  very  powerful  and  effective 
when  the  continents  were  rising,  and  were  only  one  or  two 
hundred  feet  beneath  the  surface  of  the  sea.  It  should  be 
observed  that  Australia  is  hollowed  out  on  its  southern 
rather  than  its  western  side ;  and  this  harmonizes  with  the 
fact  that  the  south  side  of  this  continent  is  exposed  to  the 
effects  of  the  cold  local  currents,  that  flow  north-west  from 
the  Antarctic ;  and  in  this  respect  it  differs  from  South 
America  and  Africa,  which  are  hollowed  out  on  the  west,  by 
the  warm  local  currents  of  the  tropics,  which  flow  easterly. 

Observe  the  remarkable  triangular  space  formed  by  the 
mountains  where  north-east  Asia  is  marked  on  the  map.  This 
is  the  proper  geonomic  form  of  the  primitive  continent  accord- 
ing to  our  theory.  It  is  analogous  to  North  America  and  to 
Graham's  Land.  Notice  the  general  parallelism  of  the  ellipti- 
cal currents  to  the  mountains  on  the  borders  of  the  conti- 
nents. The  mountains  are  represented  by  zigzag  lines. 
Observe  the  east  and  west  running  mountains  of  southern 
Europe  and  Asia,  while  the  more  primitive  mountains  run 
more  nearly  north  and  south. 

The  dotted  line  on  the  great  continent  represents,  in  a 
general  manner,  the  primitive  course  of  the  elliptical  cur- 
rent. It  flowed  north-west  through  what  is  now  the  Red 
Sea,  just  as  the  analogous  current  in  the  Atlantic  now 
flows  north-west  through  the  Caribbean  Sea.  It  turned 
and  flowed  north  and  north-east  on  the  east  side  of 


GEOGRAPHY.  69 

the  Scandinavian  mountains,  just  as  now  the  gulf  stream 
flows  north-east  on  the  east  side  of  the  Alleghanies. 
It  moved  east  to  north-east  Asia,  just  as  the  gulf  stream 
now  flows  east  to  Europe.  It  turned  south-east  and 
then  south-west,  and  flowed  to  the  equator,  just  as  the 
analogous  Atlantic  current  now  does.  It  is  well  known 
to  geologists,  that,  in  the  carboniferous  period,  more 
than  three-fourths  of  the  land  within  the  dotted  circle  on 
the  map  was  beneath  the  sea.  The  northern  half  of 
Africa,  and  the  southern  half  of  Europe  was  in  the  same  con- 
dition :  of  course  a  "  gulf  stream"  must  then  have  circulated 
in  the  north  Indian  ocean. 


Prof.  Guyot  remarks  that  there  is  a  north  and 
south  Pacific,  and  a  north  and  south  Atlantic, 
but,  he  adds,  "  the  Indian  is  only  half  an  ocean." 
This  is  true,  but  the  other  half  existed  (geological- 
ly speaking)  but  a  short  time  ago.  To  satisfy  our- 
selves of  this,  -we  have  only  to  study  a  geological 
map.  We  there  find  that  a  short  time  before  the 
tertiary  period,  more  than  two  thirds  of  Europe 
and  Asia  were  covered  by  a  north  Indian  ocean. 
The  Alps  and  the  Himalaya  mountains  were  most- 
ly beneath  the  sea.  In  a  word,  three  double 
oceans  then  existed. 

The  progress  of  the  elevation  of  the  land  around 
the  ancient  north  Indian  ocean,  was  from  the  north 
toward  the  south  and  east,  in  Europe ;  and  from 
the  north  toward  the  south  and  west,  in  Asia. 
Scandinavia,  and  a  part  of  north-western  Russia, 
were  the  first  portions  of  Europe  that  were  raised 
above  the  sea.  The  elevation  next  extended  to 


70  PHYSICAL 

Germany,  Britain,  France  and  Spain.  Western 
Europe  was  advancing  toward  Africa,  and  the 
Mediterranean  was  becoming  narrower.  The 
Euxine,  the  Caspian,  the  Persian,  the  Red,  the 
Arabian,  and  the  Mediterranean,  were  one  great 
connected  ocean ;  into  the  midst  of  which  islands 
were  beginning  to  rise,  and  peninsulas  to  project, 
some  of  which  were  destined  to  become  the  bases 
of  the  Pyranees,  the  Juras,  the  Appennines,  the 
Caucasian  and  the  Alpine  mountains  of  our  age. 
The  Scandinavians  constituted,  at  first,  the  wes- 
tern boundaries  of  the  north  Indian  ocean.  But, 
as  the  elevated  plains  extended  eastward,  the 
bounds  were  transferred  to  the  Urals,  which  were 
elevated  by  the  subsidence  of  the  Siberian  basin. 
The  northern  part  of  the  north  Indian  ocean  was, 
at  one  time,  divided  into  east  and  west  basins  by 
the  Ural  mountains,  which  were  then  islands ;  but 
after  Europe  became  elevated,  this  ocean  was  limi- 
ted to  the  Siberian  basin.  At  length,  that  also 
was  elevated  and  drained.  In  Asia  it  was  the 
north-eastern  part,  where  the  mountains  run  north- 
erly, that  rose  first :  an  independent,  isolated  con- 
tinent, of  a  triangular  form,  wide  at  its  northern 
base,  and  pointed  southward,  if  we  may  judge  by 
its  present  mountains.  It  was  washed  on  the  east 
by  the  Pacific,  and  on  the  west  by  the  north  Indi- 
an ocean.  India  and  southern  China  were  prob- 
ably volcanic  islands.  The  tropical  waters  of  the 
Arabian  sea  poured  a  warm  "gulf  stream"  north- 
east, and  along  the  eastern  side  of  the  Urals,  into  the 


GEOGRAPHY.  71 

arctic ;  giving  to  Siberia  a  temperate  climate,  where 
now  perpetual  winter  reigns. 

EAST  AND  WEST  RUNNING  MOUNTAINS. 

• 

The  remark  is  frequently  made  by  geographers, 
that  the  principal  mountains  of  southern  Europe 
and  Asia  run  nearly  east  and  west,  while  those  of 
all  other  parts  of  the  world  run  more  nearly  north 
and  south.  Why  are  the  mountains  in  this  part  of 
the  great  continent  an  exception  to  those  of  all 
the  rest  of  the  globe  ?  We  know  that  the  moun- 
tains of  north-west  Europe  and  north-east  Asia 
were  created  first,  and  these  run  north  and  south. 
The  locality  where  the  mountains  run  east  and 
west  is  where  geonomy  teaches  us  that  the  north 
Indian  ocean  once  existed.  This  is  the  only  one  of 
the  six  great  ocean  basins  that  has  been  elevated ; 
and  it  is  to  be  expected  that  it  should  therefore  be 
exceptional  in  its  physical  structure.  Geology 
demonstrates  that  the  east  and  west  running 
mountains  of  the  great  continent  were  not  created 
until  after  the  normal  continents  of  Europe  and 
Asia  were.  The  Ural  mountains,  that  run  nearly 
north  and  south,  were  created  after  the  Scandina- 
vians were :  probably  the  Altai  mountains  were  ele- 
vated at  nearly  the  same  geological  time.  Siberia 
was  thus  made  a*  separate  basin ;  bounded  by  the 
Stanovoi  mountains  on  the  east,  the  Urals  on  the 
west,  and  the  Altai  on  the  south.  Nearly  the 
whole  of  southern  Europe  and  Asia  was  then  be- 
neath the  sea.  We  learn  from  geological  surveys, 


72  EAST  AND  WEST 

that  although  the  Ural  and  the  Altai  mountains 
were  among  the  first  that  were  elevated,  the  Sibe- 
rian basin  remained  beneath  the  sea  until  the  latter 
part  of  the  tertiary  period,  and  probably  a  portion 
of  It  still  later.  I  believe  that  the  Altai  mountains 
have  abrupt  slopes  on  their  northern  sides ;  thus  in- 
dicating that  the  Siberian  basin,  relatively,  sunk 
beneath  its  weight,  while  the  Altai  mountains  were 
rising.  The  Siberian  basin  was  probably  analo- 
gous to  the  Mississippi  valley,  in  this  respect,  that 
while  the  depressions  of  the  great  oceans  caused 
the  gradual  elevation  of  the  whole  continent,  the 
sinking  of  the  Siberian  basin,  in  its  central  parts, 
caused  relative  interior  depressions,  and  abrupt 
slopes. 

For  the  same  reason  that  the  depression  of  the 
north  Atlantic  caused  the  Scandinavians  to  run 
nearly  north  and  south,  and  the  depression  of  the 
north  Pacific  and  the  Ochotsk  sea,  caused  the  Stan- 
ovoi  mountains  to  run  in  the  same  direction — the 
depression  of  the  western  extremity  of  the  Sibe- 
rian basin,  caused  the  Urals  to  run  north  and  south. 
Reasoning  in  the  same  manner  in  regard  to  the 

O  O 

Altai,  and  the  other  mountains  that  run  east  and 
west,  we  say  that  they  necessarily  run  in  that  di- 
rection, because  the  basins  that  created  them  did 
so.  The  Altai  had  on  their  north  side  the  Siberian 
sea,  and  on  the  south  the  southern  two-thirds  of 
the  ancient  north  Indian  ocean,  which  then  ex- 
tended east  and  west  from  Britain  and  France  to 
China.  The  depression  of  this  ocean  woiild  of 


RUNNING  MOUNTAINS.  73 

course  produce  east  and  west  mountains.  From 
that  time  to  the  present  this  ocean  has  been  re- 
treating southward,  followed  by  the  succession  of 
east  and  west  mountains  and  plateaus  that  now 
constitute  the  principal  portions  of  southern  Asia 
and  Europe.  These  elevations  were  the  conse- 
quences of  the  repeated  depressions  of  the  Indian 
ocean  south  of  them.* 

In  the  north  Atlantic,  between  Newfoundland 
and  Ireland,  is  an  elevated  region  beneath  the 
sea,  which  has  lately  been  called  the  telegraphic 
plateau.  It  runs  irregularly  east  and  west;  and. 
was  undoubtedly  created  by  the  depression  of  the 
ocean's  bed  at  the  south  of  it.  It  is  probably  still 
rising.  The  volcanoes  upon  the  northern  islands,  be- 
tween Europe  and  America,  and  the  gradual  eleva- 
tion of  the  north  of  Sweden,  while  the  southern 
part  is  sinking ;  the  depression  of  the  southern  part 
of  Greenland,  while  Iceland  is  overflowing  with 
rivers  of  lava ; — all  this  indicates  that  the  process 
which  has  gone  on  to  consummation  in  the  north 
Indian  ocean,  is  being  repeated  in  the  north  At- 
lantic. The  same  process  is  also  going  on,  and 
is  much  further  advanced,  in  the  north  Pacific. 
Between  Asia  and  America  the  mountain  ranges  run 


*NOTE  . — '  'It  is  hardly  to  be  doubted,  from  the  geological  evidence  already 
collected,  that  the  whole  mountain-range  from  western  Europe  through 
the  continent  of  Asia,  including  the  Alps,  the  Caucassus  and  the 
Himalayas,  was  raised  at  the  same  time.  A  convulsion  that  thus  made 
a  gigantic  rent  across  the  continent,  giving  egress  to  three  such  moun- 
tain ranges,  must  have  been  accompanied  by  a  thousand  fractures  in 
contrary  directions.'1— AGASSIZ'S  GEOLOGICAL  SKETCHED. 


74  PHYSICAL 

nearly  east  and  west;  so  do  the  Aleutian  islands, 
and  their  chain  of  active  volcanoes,  that  extend 
in  a  curve  around  the  borders  of  a  basin  which, 
when  elevated,  may  be  regarded  as  the  analogue  of 
the  Siberian  basin;  while  the  Aleutians  will  re- 
semble the  Altai. 

Assuming  that  there  were  originally  six  sinking 
ocean  basins,  the  lava  crowded  from  beneath  them 
would  be  forced  to  rise  by  elevating  those  neigh- 
boring intermediate  parts  of  the  earth's  crust, 
upon  which  the  deposits  of  sediment  were  least 
weighty.  As  the  sediment  would  mostly  fall  be- 
neath the  paths  of  the  currents,  or  be  collected 
within  the  limits  of  the  elliptical  circuits,  the 
smallest  amount  of  deposits  would  be  made  in  the 
angular  inter-elliptical  spaces;  these  therefore  would 
become  elevated,  and  constitute  the  normal  con- 
tinents. If,  in  consequence  of  the  derangement  of 
the  currents,  one  or  more  of  the  rising  continents, 
or  parts  of  continents,  should  become  included  in 
the  circuits  of  the  currents — then  such  included 
parts  would  be  loaded  with  sediment,  and  caused  to 
subside  again,  and  the  subjacent  lava  be  forced  to 
rise  in  other  places,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  aque- 
ous ellipses.  Again,  if,  from  any  cause,  one  of  the 
six  sinking  basins  did  not  accumulate  as  much 
weight  of  sediment  within  its  limits  as  the  other 
five  did,  it  would  not  sink  as  deep ;  and  the  others 
would,  by  virtue  of  their  superior  weight,  force 
their  subjacent  lava  underneath  the  lighter  basin, 
and  thus  produce  its  elevation  above  the  sea.  This 


GEOGRAPHY.  75 

is  evidently  what  has  happened  to  the  north  In- 
dian basin. 

The  land  in  the  northern  hemisphere,  is,  when 
compared  with  that  in  the  southern,  as  three  to 
one.  The  lava  that  has  been  forced  from  under 
the  southern  basins,  has  been  driven  up  under  the 
northern  continents,  which  have  thus  been  made 
of  more  than  twice  the  normal  size.  As  the  lava 
came  from  the  south,  it  forced  itself  under  the 
nearest,  or  extreme  southern  parts  of  the  northern 
continents,  and  thus  caused  their  extension  in  a 
southern  direction.  The  progress  of  elevation  in 
America  and  in  Asia  was  south  and  west,  in  Eu- 
rope it  was  south  and  east :  in  all  three  cases  the 
continents  were  abnormally  extended  in  a  southern 
direction.  The  elevation  and  draining  of  the  north 
Indian  basin  was  commenced  by  enlarging,  in  a 
southern  direction,  the  two  northern  continents 
which  then  partially  bounded  it.  Asia  extended  it- 
self south  and  west  to  Africa,  and  Europe  extended 
itself  south  and  east  to  Africa ;  so  that  between  the 
three  continents,  the  north  Indian  ocean  became 
land  locked ;  and  the  former  free  communication 
with  the  waters  of  the  equatorial  region  was  cut 
off.  Its  elliptical  circulation  being  thus  rendered 
imperfect,  or  entirely  destroyed,  the  accumulation 
of  sediment  became  gradually  less ;  until  at  length, 
like  the  weaker  power  in  all  contests,  it  was  forced 

XOTE.— ARAGO  has  suggested  that  the  bottom  of  the  Indian  ocean  must 
be  composed  of  very  weighty  materials,  to  counter-balance  Asia  in  the 
opposite  hemisphere. 


76  PHYSICAL 

to  succumb  to  the  greater  weights  in  the  three 
neighboring  ocean  basins. 

In  Europe,  the  southern  progress  of  the  conti- 
nent was  arrested  by  the  vicinity  of  Africa,  which 
served  as  a  protection  to  the  Mediterranean,  and 
prevented  its  bed  from  being  entirely  elevated. 
To  understand  this,  we  must  consider  that  Africa 
was  elevated  simultanously  with  north-western  Eu- 
rope. When,  therefore,  the  three  neighboring  great 
oceans  began  to  encroach  upon  the  north  Indian 
basin,  by  crowding  lava  under  it  from  beneath 
themselves,  the  continent  of  Africa  prevented,  by 
its  position,  any  lava  from  being  crowded  under 
that  side  which  bordered  upon  Africa.  The  lava 
from  under  the  Atlantic  could  elevate  Spain  and 


NOTE. — "Recent  researches  have  shown  that  an  immense  region  around 
the  Black,  Caspian  and  Aral  seas,  and  extending  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Uralian  mountains,  through  Siberia  to  the  North  sea,  was,  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  tertiary  period,  covered  by  brackish  water,  such  as 
that  which  now  fills  the  Caspian.  In  other  words,  that  sea,  during  a 
long  period,  had  that  immense  extent,  and  was  not  directly  connected 
with  any  ocean. 

It  is  probable  that  during  the  tertiary  period  the  water  of  the  ocean 
flowed  through  the  valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  so  as  to  separate  the  Al- 
leghanies  from  the  hypozoic  region  around  Hudson's  Bay,  as  well  as  from 
the  Rocky  mountains,  forming,  in  fact,  three  large  islands  of  North 
America. 

During  the  period  in  which  the  patezoric  rocks  were  in  the  course  of 
deposition,  America  was  divided  into  six  large  islands — three  in  North 
and  three  in  South  America.  The  Ozark  mountains  also  formed  a  small 
island,  or  bank,  in  advance  of  the  long  island  of  the  Rocky  mountains. 
In  Africa,  a  large  part  of  the  continent  formed  a  single  island.  In  Europei 
Scandinavia  constituted  the  largest  island,  while  the  Urals  formed  an- 
other, and  six  or  eight  smaller  ones  existed.  In  Asia,  there  were  from 
three  to  five,  though  one  of  them  was  vastly  the  largest.— HITCHCOCK'S 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  GLOBE." 


GEOGEAPHY.  77 

France  at  the  western  extremity  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean ;  and  that  from  under  the  Arabian  sea  could 
elevate  Arabia,  at  the  eastern  extremity;  while 
the  lava  from  beneath  the  sinking  basin  of  the 
Mediterranean  itself,  elevated  the  Atlas  mountains, 
the  Appenines,  and  the  Alps,  around  its  own 
borders ;  but  it  was  not  practicable  for  the  great 
ocean  basins  to  force  their  lava  in  the  proper  di- 
rection to  undermine  this  sheltered  basin.  If  the 
place  of  Africa  could  have  been  occupied  by  an 
ocean  like  the  Indian,  I  have  no  doubt  that  the 
place  of  the  Mediterranean  would  have  been  filled 
by  a  range  of  mountains  like  the  Himalayas. 


PHYSICAL 
FIGURE  8. 


GEOGRAPHY.  79 

Fig.  8  is  a  representation  of  the  American  series  of  three 
continents.  The  antarctic  continent  of  Graham's  Land  be- 
ing represented  as  extending  to  the  south  pole  and  the  arctic 
to  the  north  pole.  I  requested  -the  artist  to  otherwise  pre- 
serve the  forms  and  proportions  as  they  actually  exist ;  my 
object  being  to  show  that  Graham's  Land  is  merely  an  im- 
perfect repetition  or  counterpart  of  North  America  ;  and  Pata- 
gonia a  counterpart  of  Central  America,  so  called.  In  re- 
ality, according  to  geonomy,  Graham's  Land  is  South 
America,  and  South  America,  so  called,  is  Central  America. 
The  hollowing  out  of  the  tropical  continent  on  its  western 
side  is  well  exhibited,  so  also  are  the  local  currents  which 
probably  caused  it.  On  the  eastern  side,  there  being  no 
local  currents,  but  only  the  great  elliptical  currents,  the 
pointed  form  of  the  continent  at  cape  St.  Roque,  corresponds 
with  this  fact,  and  harmonizes  with  theory. 

The  large  arrows  represent  the  great  elliptical  currents ; 
and  it  mil  be  readily  conceived  that  were  it  not  for  the 
effects  of  the  local  currents,  the  western  sides  of  the  tropical 
continents  would  have  been  pointed  just  as  the  eastern  sides 
are. 

The  American  series  of  continents  has  departed 
less  from  the  primitive  plan  than  the  other  two 
series  have.  This  is  doubtless  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  American  is  the  only  one  of  the  three  se- 
ries that  has  had  two  great  oceans  on  the  east,  and 
two  others  on  the  west  of  it.  Had  the  north  In- 
dian ocean  maintained  its  integrity,  instead  of 
having  its  bed  elevated  and  drained,  the  other  two 
series  of  continents  would  have  exhibited  a  much 
more  striking  resemblance  to  the  Americas. 

The  triple  series  of  continents  is  so  plainly  in- 
dicated, that  it  has  been  recognized,  and  is  men- 


80  PHYSICAL 

tioned,  by  several  eminent  geographers.  Johnson, 
in  his  great  physical  atlas,  speaks  of  all  the  con- 
tinents as  being  "  equal  to  three  Americas."  Guyot 
denominates  them  "three  double  worlds."  Geo- 
nomy  demonstrates,  that  primitively  they  were 
three  triple  worlds ;  and  this  would  now  be  evident 
enough  if  the  antarctic  projections  were  normally 
developed. 

Fig.  9  is  made  to  represent  the  outlines  of  the  three  series 
of  continents  as  they  would  appear  if  the  north  Indian 
ocean  basin  had  not  been  elevated.  This  simple  illustration 
conveys  a  better  idea  of  the  geonomic  theory  than  a  hundred 
pages  of  verbal  explanation.  The  analogy  between  the 
eastern  points  of  Africa,  of  Australia  and  of  South  America 
is  here  apparent.  So  also  is  the  relation  of  these  three  points 
to  the  elliptical  currents  that  turn  from  the  equator  and  flow 
north-west  and  south-west. 

We  can  now  readily  perceive  the  analogy  of  the  Hed  sea 
and  the  Mediterranean,  to  the  Caribbean  sea  and  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico ;  and  the  analogy  of  both  to  the  East  Indian  seas. 
This  diagram  enables  us  to  appreciate  the  remark  that  "  all 
the  continents  together  are  equal  to  three  Americas." 

Is  it  not  evident  that  instead  of  the  currents  being  turned 
aside  by  the  eastern  projection  of  America,  that  projection 
was  originally  created  by  the  currents?  The  primitive 
function  of  the  Red  sea  can  now  be  perceived.  The  current 
formerly  ran  through  it  into  the  Mediterranean,  and  thence 
north-east  into  the  Arctic.  Observe  how  much  the  form  of 
Asia,  in  the  diagram,  resembles  that  of  North  America. 
Observe  that  Australia  now  appears  to  be  only  the  southern 
portion  of  a  continent,  of  which  the  islands  north  of  it  were 
once  a  part ;  its  analogy  to  South  America  and  to  Africa  is 
thus  made  more  apparent. 


GEOGRAPHY. 
FIGURE  9. 


81 


82  PHYSICAL 

Professor  Hitchcock,  in  his  geology  of  the  globe, 
says: 

"  The  form  of  North  and  South  America  appears  to  be  the 
type  of  all  the  other  continents,  if  we  unite  Africa  to  Europe, 
and  New  Holland  to  Asia.  This  renders  it  probable  that 
their  forms  are  not  accidental,  but  resulted  from  the  mode  in 
which  the  internal  forces  acted." 

If  the  Atlantic  had  been  as  large  as  the  Pacific, 
the  Americas  would  have  been  still  nearer  to  the 
primitive  type ;  and  the  mountains  on  the  eastern 
sides  would  have  been  as  high  and  regular  as  those 
on  the  western. 

The  mountainous  edges  of  the  continents  rose 
first,  and  the  lava  was  not  crowded  under  their  in 
tenors  until  a  long  time  afterwards.  The  whole 
rose  gradually  but  irregularly;  more  upon  one 
side  than  upon  another.  Naturally  any  land  would 
rise  most  on  the  side  next  to  the  largest  ocean. 

Every  mountain  has  its  abrupt  slope  toward 
the  basin,  the  subsidence  of  which  produced  the 
elevation  of  that  mountain.  When  a  continent,  or 
any  large  area  of  the  earth's  crust,  was  rising,  the 
central  portion  generally  became  depressed — or  rel- 
atively depressed — while  the  exterior  edges  were 
rising ;  that  is  to  say,  the  exterior  and  surrounding 
parts  rose  more  rapidly  than  the  interior.  The 
great  interior  seas,  and  large  lakes,  can  be  ac- 
counted for  on  these  principles.  The  Caspian  is  in 
a  basin,  the  bottom  of  which  is  protected  from  the 


GEOGKAPHY.  8 

invasion  of  lava  waves  by  its  distance  from  the 
great  oceans.  This  whole  middle  region,  however, 
from  Portugal  to  China,  has,  during  the  historic 
period,  and  indefinite  ages  before,  been  liable  to  be 
disturbed  by  earthquakes,  produced,  as  all  earth- 
quakes are,  by  movements  of  lava  from  beneath 
the  great  ocean  basins.  These  earthquakes  tend 
to  adjust  the  balance,  which  must  be  constantly 
maintained,  between  the  continents  and  the  heavy 
ocean  beds,  whose  weights  maintain  the  dry  lands 
in  their  elevated  positions. 

The  American  lakes  seem  to  puzzle  geologists ; 
but,  by  the  light  of  geonomy,  they  appear  to  re- 
sult naturally,  from  the  depressions  of  the  two 
great  oceans  east  and  west  of  them. 

I  presume  that  Hudson's  Bay  was  the  interior  of 
the  primitive  North  American  continent.  A  small 
part  of  the  Atlantic  ocean  current  flowed  north- 
east through  lake  Erie,  lake  Ontario  and  the  river 
St.  Lawrence.  The  lands  at  the  east  of  this  chan- 
nel were  large  continental  islands,  which  gradually 
rose  and  obstructed  the  channel,  until  only  the 
present  lakes  and  the  St.  Lawrence  river  were  left. 

On  the  west  side  of  Hudson's  Bay  was  another 
channel,  in  which  a  small  portion  of  the  cold  cur- 
rent flowed  south-east  along  the  line  of  lakes  Win- 
nepeg,  the  lake  of  the  Woods,  Superior  and  Mich- 
igan. The  Gulf  of  Mexico  then  extended  north 
nearly  as  far  as  the  great  lakes ;  and  western  North 
America  was  a  continental  island.  The  lava  from 
under  the  Atlantic  has  not  elevated  the  beds  of 


84  CUKVES  OF  MOUNTAINS  AND  ISLANDS 

Erie,  of  Ontario  or  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  nor 
that  from  under  the  Pacific,  the  beds  of  Winnepeg, 
Superior  and  Michigan.  These  regions  are,  how- 
ever, frequently  disturbed  by  earthquakes,  and  will 
probably  continue  to  be  so  until  the  lakes  shall 
cease  to  exist. 

CURVES    OF    MOUNTAINS     AND     ISLANDS     AND 
THEIR    CAUSE. 

It  has  been  remarked  by  geographers  that  no 
mountain  range,  and  scarcely  a  single  mountain, 
is  straight.  The  long  ranges  of  mountains  curve 
toward  the  great  oceans.  If  we  attentively  study 
the  chain  of  continental  islands,  that  extend  along 
the  eastern  coast  of  Asia — the  Aleutians,  the  Kurile, 
the  Japan — we  observe  that  each  is  convex  toward 
the  great  ocean,  and  concave  toward  the  minor 
sea*  that  divides  it  from  the  Asiatic  continent. 
The  explanation  is,  that  a  large  area  of  the  bed 
of  the  ocean,  along  the  eastern  shore  of  Asia,  is 
rising.  This  rising  area  is  broken  up  into  a  chain 
of  minor  basins,  the  centres  of  which  are  relatively 
depressed,  and  the  islands  constitute  the  outer 
edges  of  the  basins.  Of  course,  it  is  natural  that 
the  islands,  under  these  circumstances,  should  be 
concave  towards  the  interiors  of  the  minor  basins. 
The  same  explanation  applies  to  Cuba  and  the  An- 
tilles. 

Bringing  these  principles  to  bear  upon  the  moun 
tains  in  the  interiors  of  the  continents,  we  are  en- 
abled to  form  some  idea  of  their  origin,  and  the 


A2TD  THEIK  CAUSE.  86 

causes  of  their  slopes  and  curvatures.  Many  of 
them  were  primitively  continental  islands,  concave 
toward  a  basin  which  is  now  elevated  and  drained 
to  constitute  a  plateau. 

The  Asiatic  and  European  systems  of  mountains 
that  run  east  and  west,  are  the  boundaries  of  sev- 
eral chains  of  basins,  analogous  to  the  series  of 
basins  that  now  exist  along  the  eastern  shore  of 
the  great  continent.  The  origin  of  the  spurs  or 
transverse  mountains,  can  now  be  understood. 
They  result  from  depressions  of  the  extremities  of 
long  minor  basins  while  the  continent  as  a  whole 
was  rising. 

HOLLO WIXG    OUT    OP    THE    WESTERN    SIDES    OP   THE 
TROPICAL   CONTIXEXTS. 

I  have  remarked  that  the  local  currents  would 
hollow  out  the  western  sides  of  the  tropical  con- 
tinents. If  the  oceans  and  continents  had  re- 
mained perfectly  symmetrical,  each  tropical  conti- 
nent would  have  been  hollowed  out,  symmetrically, 
on  each  side  of  the  equator.  There  would  have 
been  a  hollow  on  the  western  side  of  Africa,  north 
of  the  equator,  similar  to  that  on  the  south  of  it 
which  is  known  as  the  gulf  of  Guinea.  So  also, 
there  would  have  been  a  hollow  on  the  western 
side  of  South  America,  north  of  the  equator,  simi- 
lar to  that  now  existing  in  Peru. 

The  greater  development  of  the  oceans  in  the 
southern  hemisphere  has  caused  the  hollows  to 
be  more  strongly  marked  there  than  in  the  north. 


86  HOLLOWING  OUT 

The  Guinea  local  current,  and  the  analogous 
South  American  current  are  powerful  and  de- 
cided in  their  effects,  but  their  counterparts  in  the 
northern  hemisphere  are  of  inferior  importance. 
The  "  counter  current "  in  the  north  Pacific,  which 
runs  eastward  toward  the  coast  of  California,  is 
unquestionably  the  imperfect  representative  of  the 
local  tropical  current  which  once  impinged  on  the 
western  -coast  of  tropical  Central  America.  An 
analogous  current,  but  still  more  imperfect  and 
slight,  exists  on  the  shores  of  France,  and  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Bay  of  Biscay. 

The  southern  part  of  Australia  was  probably 
hollowed  out  by  the  local  ciirrents  that  flow  north- 
west from  the  Antarctic  coast.  I  presume  that 
there  is  a  tropical  local  current,  analogous  to  the 
Guinea  current,  that  flows  south-east  among  the 
islands  north  of  Australia ;  this,  however,  is  only 
a  theoretical  inference,  founded  upon  the  analogy 
of  their  positions. 

NOTE.— THE  MOUNTAINS  OF  THE  MOON.— The  mountains  of  the  nioon 
are  not  analogous  to  those  of  the  earth,  nor  to  the  volcanic  craters  to 
which  they  are  often  compared.  Most  of  the  elevations  are  called  ring 
mountains,  because  they  are  circular  in  form.  The  external  part  of  the 
ring  is  elevated  considerably  above  the  general  surface  of  the  moon ; 
but  the  interior  is  a  deep  pit,  the  sides  of  which  are  almost  perpendicu- 
lar ;  and  its  bottom,  instead  of  being  depressed,  is  more  or  less  elevated 
into  a  cone  shaped  mass,  like  the  bottom  of  the  inside  of  a  wine  bottle. 
Some  of  these  pits  are  hundreds  of  miles  in  diameter,  while  others  are 
too  small  to  be  distinctly  seen,  except  under  very  favorable  circum- 
stances. The  longest  ranges  of  lunar  mountains  are  curved,  the  con- 
cave sides  being  toward  the  centre  of  the  moon's  face. 

The  only  reasonable  theory  which  I  can  conceive,  to  account  for  these 
mountains,  is  the  following : 

In  one  part  of  her  orbit  the  moon  approaches  26,000  miles  nearer  to 


OF  THE  CONTINENTS.  8*7 

the  earth  than  in  another  part.  In  her  primitive  state,  the  moon  was 
composed  of  a  liquid  substance.  When  she  was  nearest  to  the  earth,  the 
attraction  of  our  planet  caused  her  face  to  protrude ;  and  when  it  retired 
20,000  miles,  the  protrusion  receded.  When  we  consider  that  the  moon 
keeps  the  same  face  constantly  turned  toward  the  earth,  we  can  readily 
conceive  that  the  alternate  monthly  protrusions  and  recessions  would 
produce  the  very  appearances  which  it  now  presents ;  and  which,  as  the 
moon  gradually  hardened,  would  become  permanent.  The  convex  bot- 
toms of  the  pits  were  probably  produced  by  the  last  efforts  made  to 
protrude.  If  the  earth's  attraction  had  no  agency  in  the  matter,  and  the 
mountains  were  made  by  an  internal  force,  acting  in  all  directions 
toward  the  surface,  the  mountains  and  the  pits  would  all  have  appeared 
oblique  to  us,  excepting  those  in  the  central  parts  of  the  moon's  lace. 
Near  the  edges  of  the  moon  the  pits  would  have  all  had  their  mouths 
turned  outward.  This  is  not  the  case.  The  elevations  and  depressions 
are  made  in  the  very  directions  which  they  would  be  if  the  force  that 
made  them  had  proceeded  directly  from  the  earth. 


SECTION  VI. 

GEOLOGICAL  FORMATIONS. 

EACH  rising  continent  was  a  plateau,  or  table 
beneath  the  sea,  upon  the  top  of  which  suc- 
cessive layers  of  sediment  were  rained  during  a 
long  series  of  ages.  This  sediment,  pressed  and 
baked  into  rocks,  folded  into  mountains  and  val- 
leys, and  abraded  by  the  ocean  currents,  now  con- 
stitutes what  are  called  geological  formations. 
The  organic  remains  which  are  mingled  with  the 
sediment,  indicate  the  relative  age  and  elevation  of 
each  formation.  When  the  continents  commenced 
rising,  the  animals  that  existed,  and  whose  remains 
fell  upon  them,  were  of  the  lowest  and  most  simple 
forms.  It  seems  that  the  elevation  of  animals  in 
the  scale  of  beings,  kept  pace  with  the  elevations 
of  the  continents  from  the  bottom  of  the  sea ;  as  if 
there  was  some  causal  connection  between  the  two 
classes  of  phenomena.  As  the  continents  rose  higher, 
the  submarine  climates,  scenery  and  circumstances 
become  more  various  and  complex;  and  adapted 
to  sustain,  if  not  to  create  a  greater  variety  of  or- 
ganic beings.  When  the  continents  rose  above  the 
sea,  and  the  dry  land  came  in  direct  contact  with 
the  atmosphere,  it  was  like  the  creation  of  a  new 
and  higher  world,  adapted  to  beings  of  a  nobler 


FOBMATIONS.  89 

order.  This  land  was  at  first  low,  warm,  moist  and 
insular ;  fitted  only  for  reptilian  life :  but  the  lands 
continued  to  rise,  and  with  them  rose  the  scale  of 
organic  beings.  The  digestive,  respiratory,  pre- 
hensive,  intellectual  and  emotional  organs  became 
more  and  more  special  and  complex,  until  at  length 
man  was  introduced  to  wield  the  scepter  of  the 
world. 

It  has  been  believed  by  a  majority  of  geologists 
that  the  primitive  earth  was  inconceivably  hot, 
and  has  been  constantly  cooling  and  contracting  to 
the  present  time.  I  agree  with  Sir  Charles  Lyell, 
that  there  is  not  sufficient  evidence  to  warrant  the 
admission  of  this  hypothesis ;  and  that  the  proba- 
bility is  that  the  gradual  cooling  of  the  continents 
has  been  caused  by  their  gradual  elevation.  If  all 
the  lands  were  now  to  sink,  except  a  few  small 
islands,  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  climate  of  the 
world  would  be  such  as  geology  indicates  that  it 
was  in  the  carboniferous  period.  Those  geologists 
who  believe  that  the  surface  of  the  earth  has 
gradually  cooled  from  a  molten  state,  regard  the 
succession  of  geological  changes  as  the  natural  re- 
sults of  the  cooling  process.  Their  idea  is  that 
the  whole  earth,  including  the  polar  regions,  once 
possessed  a  hot  climate,  on  account  of  the  radiation 
of  internal  heat ;  and  the  succession  of  geological 
formations,  together  with  oceanic  depressions  and 
continental  elevations,  are  all  the  necessary  con- 
sequences of  the  cooling  process. 

Mr.  Lyell  thinks  that  the  differences  of  climate 
8* 


90  GEOLOGICAL 

indicated  by  geology  may  be  explained  by  the 
changes  of  level  in  the  earth's  crust.  I  would  go 
further  and  say,  that  all  the  geological  phenomena 
may  be  regarded  as  the  direct  or  remote  effects  of 
the  same  cause.  The  primary  formations  were 
probably  deposited  before  the  continents  began  to 
rise.  While  they  were  rising  to  the  surface  of  the 
sea,  the  silurian  formation  was  being  created.  The 
old  red  sandstone  formation  was  produced  when 
the  edges  of  the  continents  were  emerging  from  the 
ocean,  and  were  subjected  to  the  powerful  abrasion 
of  the  currents,  and  the  storms  that  agitated  the  sur- 
face of  the  sea.  The  carboniferous  and  coal  forma- 
tion was  produced  when  large  areas  of  low,  swampy 
lands  had  just  risen  a  little  above  the  sea,  and  were 
in  some  degree  protected  from  the  ocean  by  the 
higher  rocky  shores.  The  succeeding  formations 
were  produced  in  local  basins,  lagoons,  or  inland 
seas,  where  the  materials  derived  from  the  land 
were  mingled  with  those  in  the  sea ;  and  where  the 
terrestial  productions  predominated  more  and  more 
over  the  marine,  as  the  continents  rose  higher  and 
higher. 

I  regard  all  geological  and  all  organic  changes 
as  the  direct  or  indirect  results  of  depressions  and 
elevations  of  the  earth's  crust.  The  same  con- 
ditions which  were  necessary  to  the  production  of 
the  lowest  geological  formations,  were  also  favora- 
ble to  the  creation  of  the  lowest  forms  of  organic 
life.  When  the  continents  rose  higher,  the  natural 
and  organic  forces  acted  under  different  conditions, 


FORMATIONS.  91 

and,  therefore,  produced  different  organisms.  If 
all  those  conditions  are  not  now  understood,  that  is 
a  sufficient  reason  why  we  cannot  yet  account  for 
the  progressive  elevation  of  organisms  in  a  perfect- 
ly satisfactory  manner. 


SECTION   VII. 

ECONOMY  OP  VITAL  FORCE  AND  ITS  RELATION  TO 
THE  ORGANIC  SCALE  AND  TO  THE  ELE- 
VATION OF  CONTINENTS. 

IT  is  certain  that  from  the  earliest  geological 
ages  to  the  present  time,  there  has  been  a 
gradual  improvement  of  organisms.  Not  only  has 
there  been  an  advance  in  the  intellectual  and  emo- 
tional characters  of  conscious  beings,  but  a  similar 
progression  is  demonstrable  in  every  department 
of  organic  nature.  They  have  all  made  successive 
advances  from  the  lowest,  most  general,  and  simple 
modes  and  forms,  to  the  most  complex  and  special- 
ized. So  much  is  this  the  case  that  some  modern 
philosophers  assume  that  there  is,  in  the  very  na- 
ture of  all  organisms,  a  mysterious  principle  of 
progress,  a  law  of  developement,  by  virtue  of 
which  certain  inherent,  latent  powers,  faculties  and 
organs  are  evolved  in  a  natural  succession  and  or- 
der of  creation.  Another  class  of  reasoners  at- 
tribute the  progress  of  organic  beings  to  the  in- 
fluence of  external  circumstances,  operating  upon 
organs  during  a  succession  of  generations,  and 
stimulating  them  to  special  developements ;  the 
improvements  of  one  generation  being  retained,  and 
transmitted  with  additions  to  the  next,  and  so  on, 
during  a  long  series  of  ages ;  the  present  ex- 


VITAL  FORCE.  93 

isting  organisms  being  the  results  of  those  ac- 
cumulations. A  strong  indication  of  the  insuf- 
ficiency of  this  doctrine  is  found  in  the  fact,  that 
the  progressive  principle  pervades  some  depart- 
ments of  organic  nature,  where  no  circumstances, 
with  which  we  are  acquainted,  appear  to  be  capa- 
ble of  producing  such  effects.  It  is  not  difficult  to 
understand  that  the  intellectual  and  emotional  na- 
tures of  conscious  beings  might  advance  from  gen- 
eration to  generation,  in  consequence  of  the  stimu- 
lus of  associations,  contests  and  natural  selections. 
But  this  will  not  apply  to  the  changes  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  blood,  the  developement  of  the 
lymphatics,  the  spleen,  or  mammilary  organs  in 
the  higher  animals ;  nor  to  the  changes  of  motion- 
less plants,  from  flowerless,  seedless,  fruitless  forms, 
to  those  possessed  of  the  highest  characters  of 
beauty  and  complication,  with  the  addition  of 
instincts  that  seem  to  rival  the  sexual  and  pa- 
rental affections  of  the  higher  animals. 

The  differences  among  animals  of  the  same 
species  are  termed  varieties,  and  are  admitted  by 
all  writers  to  be  the  results  of  various  physical  in- 
fluences, such  as  climate,  food,  and  scenery.  But 
the  differences  of  species,  are  by  many  of  the  ablest 
naturalists,  believed  to  have  been  coeval  with  the 
creation  of  the  first  ancestors  of  the  several  spe- 
cies, and  to  continue  in  spite  of  the  external  in- 
fluences that  produce  varieties. 

A  powerful  argument  in  favor  of  this  doctrine  is 
drawn  from  the  fact  that  in  examining  the  sue- 


94  ECONOMY  OF 

cessive  geological  formations,  new  species  appear 
to  be  suddenly  introduced,  so  widely  differing 
from  any  previously  known,  that  it  is  thought 
their  existence  cannot  possibly  be  accounted  for  by 
those  gradual  and  progressive  changes,  by  which 
external  influences  are  supposed  to  aifect  organ- 
isms. . 

It  has  been  observed  that  those  apparently 
sudden  catastrophes,  as  they  are  called,  by  which 
new  mountain  ranges  have  been  elevated,  have  in- 
variably been  followed  by  the  introduction  of  new 
and  higher  species  of  organisms.  Are  we  to  infer 
from  these  facts,  that  g'radual  elevations  caused 
those  slight  changes  only  which  constitute  vai'ie- 
ties,  while  catastrophes — produced  by  sudden  great 
depressions  of  the  ocean's  floor — originated  species  ? 
Is  a  new  species  a  perpetuated  and  multiplied  quasi 
monstrosity,  engendered  and  developed  under  new 
and  peculiar  conditions,  and  economically  adapted 
to  them  ? 

A  large  and  highly  respectable  class  of  thinkers, 
despairing  of  any  natural  solution  of  the  problem, 
attribute  the  succession  of  advances  in  organisms 
to  the  repeated  miraculous  interpositions  of  the 
Supreme  Creator.  It  appears  to  be  natural  for  a 
religious  mind  to  explain  all  the  mysterious  phen- 
omena of  nature  in  this  manner;  and  wheri,  after- 
wards, it  is  found  that  the  facts  thus  supposed  to 
be  explained,  result  from  the  operation  of  a  natural 
law,  it  almost  seems  as  if  the  Creator  is  deprived 
of  a  part  of  his  glory;  and  our  religious  feelings  are 
prone  to  rebel  against  scientific  advances  that  thus 


VITAL  FORCE.  95 

appear  to  be  made  at  the  expense  of  our  theological 
opinions.  But,  in  our  zeal,  we  must  not  forget  that 
the  Supreme  Being  is  as  much  the  author  of  the 
natural  laws  by  which  material  beings  are  formed, 
as  He  is  of  the  results  which  we  denominate  mirac- 
ulous. To  my  mind  it  is  a  much  more  wonderful 
exercise  of  Almighty  power  and  wisdom  to  estab- 
lish an  eternal  law  by  the  operation  of  which, 
under  certain  conditions,  a  given  result  must  al- 
ways follow,  than  to  perform  a  single  and  ex- 
ceptional act,  on  a  special  occasion,  in  contraven- 
tion of  his  own  natural  laws.  If  a  single  act  of  the 
Creator  is  a  miracle,  each  one  of  his  natural  laws 
is  continually  producing  miracles. 

There  appears  to  be  a  natural  law,  hitherto  un- 
recognized, which  underlies  all  the  phenomena  of 
organic  progression.  I  denominate  it  the  law  of  dy- 
namical economy,  or,  the  economization  of  organic 
force.  The  advantage  which  is  gained  by  any  ad- 
vance in  the  organic  scale  is  that  it  economizes 
force.  It  produces  a  given  result  in  a  superior, 
because  more  economical,  manner.  In  the  lower 
organisms  a  great  number  of  supernumerary  parts 
abound,  which,  in  the  higher  organisms  of  the 
same  class  are  dropped,  and  only  the  few  that  are 
absolutely  necessary  are  retained.  Upon  these  few 
the  vital  energies  are  concentrated,  rendering  them 
highly  eifective.  As  an  instance,  contrast  the 
lowest  insects  with  the  highest — the  centipede  and 
the  caterpillar,  and  their  indefinite  number  of  loco- 
motive appendages,  with  the  spider,  the  bee  and 


96  ECONOMY  OF 

the  butterfly  that  have  but  six.  Again,  contrast  the 
great  number  of  eggs  produced  each  year  by  the 
lowest  fishes,  to  perpetuate  their  species,  with  the 
few  produced  by  the  shark  to  accomplish  the  same 
object.  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  prove  that  all 
the  instances  of  the  developement  of  special  organs, 
and  the  additions  of  special  functions,  which  dis- 
tinguish the  higher  from  the  lower  classes  of  ani- 
mals, has  economy  for  its  purpose.  But  in  this 
brief  article  I  only  wish  to  announce  the  general 
law,  and  leave  its  more  particular  illustration  to 
some  future  occasion. 

The  advance  of  animals  in  intelligence,  seems  to 
be  but  one  of  the  modes  in  which  this  economic 
law  is  manifested.  The  advantage  gained  by  the 
more  intellectual  animals  over  those  of  lower 
grades,  is  that  they  can  accomplish  the  same  ends 
with  a  lesser  expenditure  of  force,  or  of  time,  or 
with  less  difficulty  or  danger.  Intelligence  is  econ- 
omic of  physical  force.  Animals  are  organic  ma- 
chines, and  the  higher  animals  are  labor  saving 
machines.  Dynamical  laws  underlie  the  scale  of 
organic  beings.  The  brains  of  animals  are  labor- 
saving  in  proportion  to  their  complication,  and  the 
degrees  of  their  developement.  The  brain  of  the 
philosopher  saves  labor  by  creating  machinery  as 
a  substitute  for  muscular  power.  The  ability  to 
economize  force  and  use  it  to  the  best  advantage, 
constitutes  the  difference  between  the  ape  and  the 
savage,  the  savage  and  the  philosopher.  The 
question  now  arises — whence  came  the  necessity 


FORCE.  97 

for  the  higher  organisms  economizing  force  ?  why 
must  they  economize  it  more  than  the  lower?  The 
answer  is,  that  the  whole  quantity  of  available 
force  has  been  constantly  diminishing ;  and  in  many 
situations  organisms  have  been  forced  to  perish,  or 
to  undergo  economic  changes  of  structure  and 
function.  Organic  force,  in  its  primitive  nature,  is 
the  same  as  any  other  natural  force.  All  the.  forces 
of  nature  are  identical,  though  they  assume  dif- 
ferent forms  or  modes  of  manifestation.  Heat, 
light,  electricity,  muscular  force,  machine  force  and 
vital  force,  are  all  one  and  the  same  force  in  different 
disguises.  All  the  force  in  the  earth  exists  under 
these  and  analogous  forms.  It  is  distributed  un- 
equally to  different  substances.  Some  substances 
have  a  large  quantity  of  latent  force,  others  have 
but  little.  The  same  substance  may  contain  a 
great  quantity  under  some  circumstances,  and  lose 
it  under  others.  Some  elastic  substances  retain 
force  with  great  tenacity,  and  others  part  with  it 
readily.  No  substance  can  acquire  force  except 
from  other  substances.  All  the  force  acquired  by 
organic  bodies,  therefore,  is  taken  from  other  bodies 
which  resist  the  change  with  greater  or  less  ten- 
acity. 

As  the  continents  rose  from  the  bottom  of  the 
sea,  their  heat  was  radiated  away.  The  continents 
became  colder.  Free  force  was  scarcer,  and  latent 
force  was  retained  more  tenaciously.  Now,  when 
we  consider  that  the  functions  of  organisms  caused 
them  to  abstract  the  latent  force  from  surrounding 
9 


98  VITAL  FORCE.% 

things,  and  convert  it  to  organic  force, — it  is  plain 
that  as  force  became  more  and  more  difficult  to  ob- 
tain, that  which  was  acquired  would  be  used  more 
and  more  economically  and  advantageously. 

This  I  conceive  to  be  the  secret  of  the  progres- 
sive advancement  of  organized  beings.  Moisture 
contains  a  large  quantity  of  latent  force,  which 
organisms  can  appropriate.  As  the  continents  have 
risen  higher,  moisture  and  free  heat  have  become 
less  in  quantity,  and  have  been  retained  with  more 
tenacity;  organisms  have  therefore  obtained  it  with 
more  difficulty,  and  administered  it  with  greater 
economy. 

If  the  continents  were  all  to  sink  gradually,  so 
that  in  a  thousand  human  generations  the  lands 
were  reduced  to  a  few  low,  moist  islands, — I  have  no 
doubt  that  all  the  higher  organisms  would  become 
degraded :  and  if  even  those  islands  should  disap- 
pear, and  the  ocean's  bed  resume  its  original  level 
— during  all  this  long  period  of  depression,  the 
scale  of  organic  beings  would  indicate  a  corres- 
ponding depression,  until  only  the  lowest  possible 
grades  would  remain  in  existence, 


SECTION  vm. 

DRIFT  FORMATION. 

AFTER  the  northern  continents  had  assumed 
nearly  their  present  forms  and  elevations,  and 
the  present  geological  period  was  about  to  com- 
mence, a  sudden  change  occurred  in  the  climate, 
which  had  always  previously  been  warmer  than  it 
is  now.  It  became  so  cold  as  to  destroy  nearly  all 
the  land  animals  in  the  northern  half  of  the  tem- 
perate zone.  The  hills  were  covered  with  glaciers, 
the  fields  were  clothed  with  ice  and  snow,  and  cur- 
rents of  water  from  the  Arctic  region  overflowed  a 
large  portion  of  the  temperate  zone.  These  currents 
carried  south-eastward  such  an  immense  quantity  of 
gravel  and  boulders,  that  it  would  seem  that  noth- 
ing less  than  the  wreck  of  a  continent  could  have  fur- 
nished the  materials.  It  was  only  the  tops  of  the 
highest  mountains  that  were  out  of  the  reach  of  this 
wonderful  invasion.  The  duration  of  the  drift 
period  is  unknown,  but  it  is  believed  to  have  con- 
tinued many  thousand  years ;  and  when  it  ceased 
the  climate  assumed  its  present  condition. 

The  causes  of  the  drift  are  unknown.  Several 
ingenious  theories  have  been  suggested  in  relation 
to  it,  but  none  that  accounts  for  all  the  facts.  It 
seems  to  be  proved  that  a  large  portion  of  the 


100  DEIFT  FOKMATION. 

drifted  territories  were  covered  by  glaciers,  analo- 
gous to  those  which  abound  at  the  present  time  in 
some  of  the  Alpine  regions  of  Europe.  The  sur- 
faces of  many  rocks,  over  which  the  drift  passed, 
are  smoothed,  and  some  of  them  scratched,  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  manner  as  those  rocks  are  which 
glaciers  are  well  known  to  have  acted  upon  in 
Switzerland.  In  many  places  the  ground  is  fur- 
rowed, or  raised  into  groups  of  oblong  mounds 
which  glaciers  alone  could  produce.  Any  proper 
theory  of  the  drift  must  show:  1st,  the  condition 
of  things  previous  to  its  commencement ;  2d,  the 
nature  of  the  changes  which  caused  the  drift ;  3d, 
the  changes  which  brought  it  to  a  close.  It  must 
also  explain  the  existence  of  glaciers,  boulders  and 
gravel ;  and,  above  all,  why  the  course  of  the  drift 
was  south-east. 

I  shall  endeavor  to  show  that  the  drift  was 
caused  by  the  operation  of  the  ocean  currents, 
while  the  Arctic  lands  were  rising  above  the  sea. 

Let  us  first  endeavor  to  form  a  correct  idea  of 
the  polar  currents,  before  any  of  the  land  rose  to 
interfere  with  them.  There  were  three  elliptical 
currents  in  the  northern  hemisphere,  all  of  which 
approached  within  twenty-five  degrees  of  the  pole ; 
consequently  there  was  a  polar  interspace,  nearly 
three  thousand  miles  in  width,  which  had  a  ten- 

NOTB.— We  have  no  clue  to  this  great  change.       *       *       *       A 
sudden  winter  that  was  also  to  last  for  ages  fell  upon  the  globe.       * 

*  *  An  Arctic  climate  prevailed  in  the  temperate  zone,  and 
that  of  the  temperate  zone  extended  much  farther  south.— AGASSIZ'S  GEO. 
LOGICAL  SKETCHES. 


DRIFT   FORMATION.  101 

dency  to  rise,  and  through  which  local  or  semi- 
elliptical  currents  flowed.  Each  of  the  ellipti- 
cal currents  sent  warm  offsets,  analogous  to 
the  present  Norway  current,  north-east  into 
the  Arctic  sea.  These  three  local  currents  all 
passed  out  of  the  polar  interspace  in  a  south-east 
direction  as  cold  currents.  Thus  three  semi-ellipti- 
cal local  currents  were  created.  Reasoning  theo- 
retically, we  have  good  reason  to  conclude  that 
such  was  the  state  of  things  at  that  time.  When 
the  lands  began  to  rise,  they  interfered  with  this 
arrangement.  The  elevation  of  the  north  Indian 
basin  stopped  the  current  from  that  ocean  long 
before  the  drift  commenced.  The  offsets  from  the 
Atlantic  and  from  the  Pacific  were  probably  con- 
tinued until  the  drift  period.  The  Norway  current 
is  now  the  only  one  of  importance  that  circulates 
through  the  Arctic  sea.  It  enters  in  a  north-east 
direction,  and  finding  no  outlet  south-east,  is  forced 
to  become  neutral  and  to  escape  between  Green- 
land and  Iceland. 

If  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  sea  could  now  be 
lowered  five  hundred  feet,  what  course  would  the 
currents  pursue  ?  Geonomy  answers  that  a  power- 
ful warm  current  would  enter  the  polar  sea  from 
the  Pacific  in  a  north-east  direction,  between  Asia 
and  America,  and  pass  out  south-east  through  Baf- 
fin's sea.  If  the  passage  from  Baffin's  sea  should 
afterwards  be  gradually  shallowed  by  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  earth's  crust,  the  current  would  over- 
flow the  northern  lands  for  a  vast  distance  around, 
and  repeat  all  the  phenomena  of  the  drift. 


102  DKIFT  FORMATION-. 

Geonomy  demonstrates  that  the  drift  was  pro- 
duced by  warm  currents  entering  the  Arctic  sea 
north-east,  and  flowing  from  it  in  a  south-east  di- 
rection. All  geologists  agree  that  the  drift,  what- 
ever was  its  cause,  moved  in  a  south-east  direction 
across  both  Europe  and  America.  This  fact,  which 
is  of  vital  importance  now  that  the  laws  of  the 
ocean  currents  are  understood,  has  been,  hitherto, 
regarded  as  of  no  special  value,  except  as  a  proof 
that  the  drift  currents  moved  from  the  Arctic  re- 
gions. But  the  south-east  direction  of  the  drift 
proves  that  it  was  the  complement  or  continuation 
of  a  warm  current,  that  entered  the  Arctic  in  a 
north-east  direction ;  for  no  other  current  would 
move  south-east.  The  easting  of  the  drift  currents 
must  have  been  acquired  while  they  were  warm, 
and  before  they  began  to  flow  into  the  Arctic  sea. 
If  a  mountain  were  suddenly  to  rise  at  the  north 
pole,  the  waters  would  not  move  from  the  disturbed 
centre  south-east,  but  south-west;  or,  if  an  im- 
mense quantity  of  ice  and  snow  should  melt  in  the 
northern  regions,  the  resulting  currents  would 
move  south-west  and  not  south-east. 

It  must  be  recollected  that  the  Arctic  ocean  was 
about  3,000  miles  in  diameter,  and  could,  therefore, 
if  disturbed,  readily  furnish  the  immense  quantity 
of  gravel,  boulders,  cold  water  and  ice,  which  the 
drift  theory  and  the  actual  facts  require. 

The  drift  floods  were  probably  annual.  The 
polar  lands  were,  in  the  mean  time,  gradually  rising 
to  the  surface,  and  being  abraded  by  the  powerful 


DEIPT  FOEMACIONS.  103 

currents  that  coursed  through  the  Arctic  sea. 
When  all  this  is  considered,  we  need  not  wonder 
that  an  enormous  quantity  of  gravel  and  rocks 
were  transported  south-east,  or  that  glaciers 
abounded  during  the  drift  period. 

To  explain  the  drift  in  a  general  way,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  say  that  the  warm  currents  which 
passed  into  the  Arctic  from  the  Pacific,  or  from 
the  Atlantic,  or  from  both,  were  prevented,  by  the 
elevation  of  the  ocean's  floor,  from  passing  out 
through  their  former  channels ;  they,  therefore, 
overflowed  the  surrounding  countries,  and  carried 
ice,  gravel  and  boulders  a  great  distance  south-east, 
turning  summer  into  winter,  and  causing  immense 
quantities  of  snow  and  ice  to  accumulate  upon 
lands  that,  both  before  and  since,  have  been  free 
from  them  during  three-fourths  of  the  year. 

The  north-east  direction  of  the  Scandinavian 
mountains,  proves  that  they  were  indirectly  cre- 
ated by  the  Norway  current  that  now  runs  north- 
east, and  near  them,  into  the  Arctic  sea.  The  regu- 
lar elliptical  current  would  have  made  them  run 
north-west,  like  the  mountains  in  north-western 
America.  This  shows  that  the  Norway  current  is 
very  ancient,  and  has  probably  always  supplied  the 
Arctic  sea  with  most  of  its  warm  water.  It  is  re- 
markable, and  worthy  of  special  consideration  that 
Baffin's  sea,  and  several  accessory  channels,  run 
south-east.  This  channel  must,  therefore,  have  been 
created  by  a  powerful  current  which  once  poured 
through  it,  into  the  Atlantic,  in  a  south-east  direc- 


104  DRIFT   FORMATION. 

tion.  Was  it,  then,  the  complement  or  continua- 
tion of  the  Norway  channel  ?  Did  nearly  all  the 
Arctic  waters  pass,  out  through  Baffin's  sea?  and 
did  the  elevation  of  the  northern  part  of  the  floor 
of  that  channel  produce  the  drift  ?  Was  there 
also  a  warm,  powerful  current  that  entered  from 
the  Pacific  before  the  drift  period,  and  which  has 
since  then  been  excluded  ?  However,  these  ques- 
tions may  be  answered  after  the  geology  of  the 
Arctic  regions  is  better  understood — the  undoubted 
fact  must  still  remain,  that  the  drift  was  caused  by 
warm  currents  flowing  into  the  Arctic  sea  north- 
east, and  flowing  out  again  south-east  as  cold  cur- 
rents. 

If  the  drift  was  caused  by  the  rising  of  the 
Arctic  land,  it  was  also  brought  to  a  close  by  the 
elevation  of  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  sea,  and  the 
formation  of  a  sufficient  channel  through  which 
the  currents  can  now  move  without  overflowing 
their  proper  bounds. 

Is  another  drift  period  impossible  ?  Suppose 
that  the  channel  between  Greenland  and  Iceland 
should  be  obstructed  by  the  elevation  of  its  bed, — 
are  the  Arctic  shores  high  enough  to  prevent 
the  consequent  flood  from  sweeping  and  spreading 
over  the  northern  parts  of  the  temperate  zone  ? 

Much  has  been  said  of  the  north  polar  sea,  but  I 
have  no  where  seen  it  suggested  that  there  is  also 
a  polar  sea  in  the  southern  hemisphere,  though  this 
is  undoubtedly  the  case.  There  can,  however,  be 
no  doubt  that  it  is  entirely  and  permanently  frozen. 


DRIFT   FORMATION.  105 

• 

The  lands  around  the  south  polar  continent  are 
high  and  bluff,  but  probably  the  interior,  near  the 
pole,  is  a  plain  or  basin,  which  can  be  easily 
traversed  when  once  the  mountainous  borders  of 
the  continent  are  surmounted.  I  should  rather 
undertake  to  reach  the  south  pole  than  the  north ; 
and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  journey  might  long 
since  have  been  accomplished  if  half  the  sacrifices 
had  been  made  for  that  purpose  that  have  been 
made  to  reach  the  north  pole. 
Dr.  Hitchcock  says :  • 

In  Terre  del  Fuego  is  a  deposit  of  boulders  which  were 
derived  from  ledges  lying  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  to  the  south-west  and  west. — HITCHCOCK'S 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  GLOBE. 

From  this  extract,  and  from  other  authorities, 
we  learn  that  a  drift  period  occurred  in  the  south- 
ern hemisphere.  Possibly  it  happened  simultane- 
ous with  the  one  in  the  north.  "That  it  was  pro- 
duced by  similar  causes  may  be  inferred  from  the 
fact  that  the  direction  in  which  the  boulders  were 
carried  was  north-east  and  east.  No  mere  local 
current  could  flow  easterly  from  the  polar  region. 
It  was,  therefore,  a  warm  current  that  entered  the 
polar  region,  and  returned,  flowing  north-east,  car- 
rying boulders  with  it.  I  do  not  believe  that  it 
was  an  elliptical  or  a  local  current,  purely,  but  a 
semi-ellipse,  which  partakes  of  the  nature  of  both. 

From  the  best  information  that  I  can  obtain,  I 
am  convinced  that  the  elliptical  currents  are  in  no 
10 


106  DRIFT  FORMATION. 

cases  the  bearers  of  icebergs.  They  are  conveyed 
by  local  currents  only.  Maury  says  that  icebergs 
are  conveyed  from  the  southern  part  of  the  Indian 
ocean  into  the  south  Atlantic  as  far  as  the  thirty- 
seventh  degree  of  south  latitude.  They  must  move 
north-west  to  reach  the  Atlantic,  and  this  is  the 
very  direction  in  which  a  local  current  would  neces- 
sarily flow  from  the  Antarctic.  (See  the  map.) 


SECTION  X. 
THE  SYSTEM  OF  THE  WINDS. 

f  I^HE  study  of  the  oceanic  circulation  has  natu- 
J-  rally  led  me  to  reflect  upon  that  of  the  at- 
mosphere, and  to  enquire  what  different  principles 
are  brought  into  operation  in  the  two  systems.  In 
order  to  make  this  theory  more  clear  to  our  minds, 
let  us  first  present  it  in  its  simplest  form,  divested 
of  all  the  circumstances  that  render  the  problem 
complicated. 

Let  us  suppose  the  earth  to  be  entirely  covered 
with  water ;  and  thus  leave  out  of  our  calculation 
all  the  disturbances  now  produced  by  the  elevations 
of  the  continents.  Let  us  also  overlook  the  effects 
produced  by  the  changes  of  the  seasons,  and,  for 
the  time,  suppose  the  days  and  nights  to  be  always 
equal.  Under  these  circumstances  the  sun's  heat 
would  be  greatest  exactly  at  the  equator,  and  pro- 
gressively less  in  each  successive  parallel  of  lati- 
tude to  the  very  poles.  The  dynamical  problem 
now  to  be  solved  is, — what  must  necessarily  be 
the  system  of  the  winds  under  these  conditions  ? 

The  rays  of  the  sun  pass  through  the  atmosphere 
without  communicating  much  warmth  to  the  air ; 
but,  after  striking  the  earth,  the  rays  rebound,  and 
warm  the  lowest  portions  of  the  atmosphere, 


108 


THE  SYSTEM  OF 


\ 


FIGURE  10. — SYSTEM  OF  THE  WINDS. 
causing  the  air  to  expand 
and  rise  until  it  reaches 
a  point  where  the  atmos- 
pheric air  is  of  the  same 
density  as  itself.  At  the 
equator,  where  the  earth 
is  hottest,  the  greatest 
quantity  of  air  is  heated, 
and  rises  to  the  greatest 
height.  From  the  ele- 
vated position  which  the 
most  heated  air  attains, 
it  moves,  as  if  down  an 
inclined  plane,  to  the 
thirtieth  degree,  on  each 
side  of  the  equator ;  here 
it  reaches  the  earth,  and 
moves  again  to  the  equa- 
tor to  repeat  the  circuit. 

The  air  also  moves 
from  the  thirtieth  degree 
to  about  the  sixtieth, 
where  it  rises  and  re- 
turns, as  an  upper  cur- 
rent, to  the  thirtieth  de- 
gree. It  there  sinks  to 
the  surface  of  the  earth, 

and  returns  again  to  the  sixtieth  degree  to  repeat 
the  circuit. 

From  the  polar  regions  the  air  moves  along  the 


,                      1 

\ 

.                                     1 

ffrar^Ss---- 

f     } 

i 

Ns^e-*"*" 

f''     r""~*X.o 

/       THE  WINDS.  109 

surface  to  the  sixtieth  degree,  where  it  rises  and 
returns,  as  an  upper  current,  to  the  polar  regions, 
and  there  sinks  to  the  earth's  surface  and  repeats 
the  circuit. 

This  theory  seems  to  be  sustained  by  all  the  facts 
which  are  known  concerning  the  actual  directions 
in  which  the  winds  blow  in  the  different  zones.  In 
the  northern  hemisphere,  according  to  the  best  au- 
thorities, the  winds  blow  as  follows  :  in  the  torrid 
zone,  from  the  north-east ;  in  the  temperate  zone, 
from  the  south-west ;  in  the  frigid  zone  from  the 
north,  north-east,  and  north-west.  In  the  southern 
hemisphere,  reversing  the  directions,  the  same  rule 
seems  to  obtain,  and  three  zones  of  wind  exist,  the 
essential  counterparts  of  those  in  the  northern 
hemisphere.  If  there  were  no  lands  to  produce  di- 
versities of  temperature,  and  no  change  of  seasons, 
these  three  serial  zones  of  each  hemisphere  would 
be  developed  with  perfect  uniformity  and  regular- 
ity ;  and  even  now  their  prevalence  in  their  respec- 
tive limits,  would  seem  to  be  sufficient  to  prove 
the  existence  of  the  general  law  beyond  all  reason- 
ble  doubt. 

EXTRACT  FROM  NICHOLS'  CYCLOPEDIA  OF  THE  PHYSICAL 
SCIENCES. — On  the  north  of  the  equator,  between  the  parallel 
of  the  30th  and  60th  degrees  north,  the  wind  is  variable  to  the 
west  and  south-west.  Between  Europe  and  America  the  south- 
west prevail  in  the  ratio  of  two  to  one.  The  mean  direction  of 
the  prevailing  winds  in  this  zone,  deduced  from  numerous 
observations,  is,  for  England,  south  68  degrees  west;  France, 
south  88  degrees  west ;  Germany,  south  76  degrees  west ; 


110  THE  SYSTEM  OF 

Denmark,  south  62  degrees  west ;  Sweden,  south  50  degrees 
west ;  Russia,  north  87  degrees  west;  North  America,  south 
86  degrees  west.  Russia  is  the  only  country  in  which  the 
mean  direction  of  the  wind  is  a  little  to  the  north  of  west. 
In  the  north  Atlantic,  the  most  prevalent  direction  of  the 
winds  is  between  south  45  degrees  west  and  south  10  degrees 
west.  When  the  sun  is  in  the  northern  hemisphere,  they 
prevail  from  south-west  to  west  south-west,  but  when  he  is 
in  the  southern  hemisphere,  they  blow  from  west  north-west 
to  north-west.  On  the  south  of  the  equator  it  is  observed 
that  between  the  parallels  of  30  and-  50  degrees  south,  the 
winds  blow  periodically  south-west  and  north-west,  that 
they  vary  west  to  north-west  when  the  sun  has  south  decli- 
nation ;  whilst  during  the  rest  of  the  year  they  are  in  general 
from  west  to  south-west.  In  the  frigid  zone  of  the  Atlantic  ' 
north  winds  are  the  most  regular  and  dominant.  The  cold- 
est winds  are  those  from  the  north-north-east,  but  in  June 
and  July  they  frequently  blow  from  the  south  south-west, 
and  sometimes  with  violence.  At  Spitzbergen,  during  the 
earlier  part  of  the  year,  the  winds  blow  from  the  south,  and 
they  are  northerly  during  the  remainder.  On  the  coast  of 
Greenland,  from  May  to  July,  the  weather  is  fine  with 
changeable  winds  mostly  from  the  south  south-west.  The 
coldest  winds  are  from  the  north-east.  In  Hudson's  Bay  it 
has  been  remarked  that  from  October  to  May  the  winds  are 
from  the  north  to  north-west,  and  from  June  to  October 
south-east  to  east.  Capt.  McClure  found  the  prevailing  winds 
from  the  north-east  along  the  American  shore  of  the  polar 
sea.  Parry  found  that  the  wind  in  the  arctic  region  blew 
from  the  northerly  direction  215  days  in  a  year,  from  the 
southerly  direction  52  days,  variable  100  days. 

If  we  reflect  upon  the  subject,  we  must  conclude 
that  there  are  three  zones  of  counter  currents  in 
the  upper  regions  of  the  atmosphere :  that  there  is 
in  fact  an  upper  counter  current  corresponding  to 


THE  WINDS.  Ill 

each  lower  current ;  and  that  the  two  together  con- 
stitute an  ellipse,  the  position  of  which  is  not  hori- 
zontal nor  vertical,  but  between  the  two — that  is, 
oblique  to  the  plane  of  the  earth's  surface. 

It  seems  that  two  currents  flow  in  opposite  di- 
rections from  the  30th  degree,  at  the  earth's  sur- 
face. The  air  that  supplies  both  these  currents 
must  come  from  opposite  directions  above;  for,  the 
current  that  flows  on  the  surface  toward  the  pole, 
does  not  reach  there  before  it  is  met  by  an  oppos- 
ing current  coming  along  the  surface  from  the  pole. 
There  is  no  outlet  below  for  either.  They  must  rise 
near  the  60th  degree,  and,  having  risen,  they  must 
overflow  in  the  same  manner  and  for  the  same 
reason  that  the  rising  column  at  the  equator  does : 
one  portion  goes  to  the  pole  sinks  and  returns,  the 
other  portion  goes  to  the  tropic  (30th  degree)  and 
there  sinks  and  returns.  The  air  overflows  north 
and  south  at  the  equator  and  also  at  the  60th  de- 
gree, and  under&ows  toward  the  equator,  at  the 
poles  and  at  the  30th  degree.  The  air.  rises  and 
overflows  because  it  is  expanded  and  rendered 
lighter  by  heat  below,  and  it  sinks  and  underflows 
because  it  has  been  condensed  and  made  heavier 
by  the  cold  above. 

In  confirmation  of  this  theory  are  the  facts 
revealed  by  the  barometer  concerning  the  differ- 
ences in  the  weight  of  the  atmosphere  in  the  dif- 
ferent zones.  Near  the  equator,  and  near  the  60th 
degree,  the  atmosphere  appears  to  be  lighter  than 
elsewhere.  These  are  the  very  places  where,  ac- 


112  THE  SYSTEM  OF 

cording  to  our  theory,  the  air  is  ascending  in  con- 
sequence of  its  lightness.  At  the  30th  degree,  and 
also  near  the  poles,  the  barometer  testifies  that  the 
atmosphere  is  heaviest ;  and  it  is  in  these  places 
where,  according  to  our  theory,  the  heaviness  of 
the  air  causes  it  to  descend.  The  circulation  of 
the  atmosphere,  according  to  this  theory,  is  contra- 
dictory to  our  traditional  ideas,  and  to  all  our 
authorities  concerning  the  geographical  sources  of 
cold  and  warm  currents.  In  the  ocean  the  cold 
currents  of  water,  in  all  cases,  move  toward  the 
equator,  and  the  warm  currents  in  the  opposite 
direction,  but  in  the  atmosphere  a  different  rule 
obtains.  "Warm  currents  of  air  are  generated  at  the 
surface  of  the  earth,  and  move  upwai'd ;  cold  cur- 
rents are  generated  in  the  upper  regions,  and  move 
downward.  This  is  true  in  all  latitudes.  The 
circulation  of  the  air,  therefore,  is  not  so  much  be- 
tween different  latitudes  as  it  is  between  different 
altitudes.  It  is  not  necessary  for  a  current  of  air 
to  move  toward  the  polar  regions  to  become 
cooled ;  for  it  is  as  cold  four  or  five  miles  above  the 
surface  at  the  equator,  as  it  is  at  the  surface  in  the 
polar  circle.  Now,  when  we  consider  the  natural 
tendency  of  heated  air  to  expand  and  rise,  we  may 

NOTE.— At  the  equator,  and  its  neighborhood,  the  average  height  of 
the  mercury  in  the  barometer  is  29.84  inches.  At  latitude  10  deg.  the 
pressure  or  heighth  begins  to  increase  visibly,  augmenting  on  toward 
latitude  30  or  40  deg.  when  it  seems  to  reach  its  maximum,  being  there 
30.08  inches.  Beyond  this  zone  the  mean  height  diminishes,  descending 
in  the  arctic  regions  to  29.76  inches.  According  to  some  observations 
it  would  appear  that  the  pressure  once  more  increases  on  nearer  ap- 
proach to  the  pole.— NICHOLS'  CTCLOPEDIA  or  THE  PHYSICAL  SCIENCES. 


THE  WIXDS.  113 

well  discard  the  common  idea  that  the  air  moves 
poleward  because  it  has  been  warmed,  or  toward 
the  equator  because  it  has  been  cooled. 

FROM  MRS.  SOMERVILLE'S  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. — 
The  mean  height  of  the  barometer  between  the  tropics  at 
the  level  of  the  sea  is  30  inches,  with  very  little  fluctuation, 
but,  owing  to  the  ascending  currents  of  air  from  the  heat  of 
the  earth,  it  is  less  under  the  equator  than  in  the  temperate 
zones.  It  attains  a  maximum  in  western  Europe  between 
the  parallels  of  40  and  45  degrees  ;  in  the  North  Atlantic  the 
maximum  is  about  the  30th  parallel,  and  in  the  southern 
part  of  that  ocean  it  is  near  the  Tropic  of  Capricorn.  It  is  a 
singular  fact,  discovered  during  Sir  James  Ross'  last  voyage, 
that  the  mean  height  of  the  barometer  is  an  inch  lower  (the 
atmosphere  is  less  heavy)  throughout  the  Antarctic  ocean 
and  at  Cape  Horn  (55th  to  60th  degree)  than  it  is  at  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  (30th  to  35th  degree)  or  Valparaiso.  M. 
Erman  observed  a  similar  depression  not  far  from  the  sea  of 
Oschotsk,  in  eastern  Siberia  (near  the  GOth  degree).  Sir  John 
Herschell  has  observed  that  on  account  of  the  upper,  flow  of 
heated  air  not  being  immediately  compensated  by  polar 
currents,  the  barometer  is  two-tenths  of  an  inch  higher  at 
the  tropics  than  at  the  equator. 

My  idea  is  that  in  every  instance  in  which  a  sur- 
face current  of  air  moves  toward  the  pole,  it  does 
so  because  it  is  cold.  The  column  which  rises  at  the 
equator  acquires  its  coldness  and  heaviness  above, 
before  it  begins  to  move  to  the  30th  degree.  The 
column  that  moves  from  the  30th  degree  poleward 
does  so  because  it  is  cold.  It  has  descended  from 
above,  and  is  seeking  the  vacuum  which  the  heat 
at  the  surface  is  producing  there,  between  the  30th 
10* 


114  THE  SYSTEM    OF 

and  the  60th  degrees.  The  current  in  the  upper 
regions,  which  moves  from  the  60th  degree  to  the 
pole,  does  so  because  when  it  has  risen  high  enough 
to  become  chilled  it  begins  to  sink,  by  its  own 
weight,  to  the  polar  surface,  which  is  compar- 
atively warm.  A  vacuum  is  being  constantly 
produced  there  by  radiations  from  the  land,  the 
water,"  and  even  from  the  ice  and  snow;  for,  how- 
ever cold  it  may  be  within  the  polar  circle  at  the 
surface,  it  is  still  colder  a  few  hundred  feet  above. 

FROM  MRS.  SOMERVILLE'S  PHYSICAL,  GEOGRAPHY. — As 
there  are  eighty-two  degrees  difference  between  the  equa- 
torial and  polar  temperature,  the  light  warm  air  at  the 
equator  is  constantly  ascending  to  the  upper  regions  of  the 
atmosphere  and  flowing  north  and  south  to  the  poles,  from 
whence  the  cold  heavy  air  rushes  along  the  surface  of  the 
earth  to  supply  its  place  between  the  tropics.  *  * 
The  current  from  the  north  pole  becomes  a  north-east  wind 
before  'arriving  at  the  Tropic  of  Cancer,  and  that  from  the 
south  pole  becomes  a  south-east  wind  before  it  comes  to  the 
Tropic  of  Capricorn,  their  limit  being  about  the  twenty- 
eighth  parallel  of  latitude  on  each  side  of  the  equator.  In 
fact,  the  difference  of  temperature  puts  the  air  in  motion, 
and  the  direction  of  the  resulting  wind,  at  every  place,  de- 
pends upon  the  difference  between  the  rotary  motion  of  the 
wind  and  the  rotary  motion  of  the  earth.  The  whole  theory 
of  the  winds  depends  upon  these  circumstances.  There  is  a 
perpetual  change  between  the  different  masses  of  the  atmos- 
phere, the  warm  air  tempering  the  cold  of  the  higher  lati- 
tudes, and  the  cold  air  mitigating  the  heat  of  the  lower. 

Mrs.    Somerville,   in   her  excellent   treatise    on 
physical  geography,  gives  a  correct  idea  of  the 


THE  WINDS.  115 

opinions  current  in  the  highest  circle  of  philosophi- 
cal society  in  Europe ;  and  the  preceding  extracts 
show  what  those  opinions  are  in  relation  to  the 
sources  of  the  wind.  It  will  be  noticed  that  she 
confounds  together  two  things  which  are  entirely 
distinct,  namely,  the  effects  produced  by  the  dif- 
ference of  elevation,  and  those  produced  by  the 
difference  of  latitude.  She  says  in  one  place  that 
"  the  light  warm  air  at  the  equator  is  constantly 
ascending  to  the  upper  regions  of  the  atmosphere 
and  flowing  north  and  south  to  the  poles,  from 
whence  the  cold  heavy  air  rushes  along  the  surface 
of  the  earth  to  supply  its  place  between  the  tropics." 
In  another  place  she  says :  "  The  average  direction 
of  the  winds,  in  England,  France,  Germany,  Den- 
mark, Sweden,  and  Xorth  America,  is  from  some 
point  between  south  and  west.  Northwesterly 
winds  prevail  in  the  corresponding  latitudes  in  the 
southern  hemisphere."  This  statement  is-  doiibt- 
less  correct ;  how  then  is  it  possible  for  her  other 
remark  to  be  true  that  "  from  the  poles  cold  heavy 
air  rushes  along  the  surface  to  the  tropics?" 

The  learned  Professor  Tyndall,  in  his  beautiful 
\vork  on  heat,  gives  the  same  explanation  that  Mrs. 
Somerville  does ;  and  it  must  certainly  be  admitted 
that  all  the  highest  authorities  are  opposed  to  this 
theory.  Are  they  not  also  opposed  to  well  known 
facts? 

If  the  wind  blew  as  the  water  flows,  from  the 
equator  to  the  polar  regions  before  it  began  to  re- 
turn, it  would  possess  so  much  easting  when  it 


116  THE  SYSTEM  OF 

arrived  that  there  would  be  a  constant  current 
blowing  toward  the  east  in  both  polar  regions. 
This  is  not  the  case.  We  may,  therefore,  from  this 
fact  alone  infer  that  these  winds  have  traveled 
over  but  few  degrees  of  latitude. 

We  have  hitherto  proceeded  upon  the  assump- 
tion that  the  sun  remains  at  the  equator,  and  the 
days  and  nights  are  equal.  During  the  summer 
solstice,  when  the  sun  is  in  the  north,  more  than 
half  of  the  frigid  zone  becomes  temperate,  and 
more  than  half  of  the  temperate  zone  torrid.  The 
thermal  equator  being  many  degrees  north,  of 
course  the  three  zones  of  wind  are  crowded  in  the 
same  direction,  and  the  north  winds  scarcely  blow 
southward  beyond  the  polar  circle ;  while  the  winds 
from  the  soiith  and  south-west  blow  across  the 
borders  of  the  arctic,  and  take  possession  of  the 
abandoned  territory  in  the  frigid  zone.  In  the 
winter,  the  reverse  takes  place.  The  frigid  zone, 
in  turn,  invades  the  temperate  regions,  and  cold 
northern  and  north-eastern  winds  blow  for  months 
over  countries  that  during  the  rest  of  the  year 
know  only  southern  breezes.  In  a  word,  the 
changes  of  the  seasons  merely  transfer  the  three 
zones  alternately  north  and  south,  without  permit- 
ting either  to  be  entirely  conquered.  The  lines 
that  divide  the  three  asrial  zones  from  each  other 
are  still  preserved  unbroken  and  even  unbent,  ex- 
cept from  local  causes.  These  lines  advance  and 
retreat  northward  and  southward  with  the  chang- 
ing seasons,  like  the  parallel  columns  of  two  oppos- 
ing armies. 


THE  WINDS.  117 

The  irregularities  of  the  winds  which  are  the 
most  complicated,  are  produced  by  the  greater  or 
lesser  elevations  of  the  land.  In  the  tropics  the 
land  is  hotter,  that  is,  it  communicates  more  heat 
to  the  air  than  the  sea  does.  In  the  frigid  zones, 
on  the  contrary,  the  land  is  colder  and  the  sea  com- 
municates more  heat  to  the  air.  The  regular  trade 
winds  do  not  blow  upon  the  land,  nor  within  100 
miles  of  the  continents.  This  fact  shows  the  great 
modifying  influence  of  the  land  upon  the  normal 
system  of  the  winds.  The  elevation  of  some  por- 
tions of  the  land  into  mountains  also  has  an  effect 
upon  the  winds,  by  deflecting  them  from  their 
proper  courses,  by  intercepting  and  chilling  .the 
warm  moist  winds  that  blow  against  them,  or  by 
preventing  the  cold  winds  from  sweeping  over  a 
particularly  favored  region.  In  order  properly 
to  estimate  these  modifying  circumstances,  we 
must  first  learn,  by  theory,  the  normal  and  prim- 
itive course  of  the  winds  in  each  and  every  locality ; 
and  then  look  upon  all  departures  from  these  direc- 
tions as  the  results  of  irregular  elevations,  and 
other  local  causes  which  are  to  be  specially  investi- 
gated. In  the  tropics,  the  normal  trade  winds 
should  continually  blow  obliquely  toward  the 
equator,  with  more  or  less  of  westing  in  them ;  but 
the  extreme  heat  of  some  lands  in  the  tropics 
causes  the  wind  to  vary  from  its  normal  course, 
and  blow  northward  during  one  period,  and  south- 
ward during  the  next,  so  that  these  alternate  or 
periodical  winds  are  called  monsoons  or  season 
winds. 


118  THE  SYSTEM  OT 

As  the  object  of  this  essay  is  not  to  give  a  de- 
tailed account  of  all  the  local  winds,  but  to  estab- 
lish a  true  general  theory  of  the  normal  winds,  as 
a  basis  and  point  of  departure,  from  which  to 
reason  concerning  local  and  irregular  winds,  I  shall 
not  give  any  particular  account  of  the  monsoons  or 
local  season  currents  of  air.  Some  of  the  winds 
which  have  hitherto  been  regarded  as  local  and 
capricious,  are  probably  owing  to  the  northern  and 
southern  movements  of  the  sun,  causing  a  corres- 
ponding transfer  of  the  limits  of  the  respective 
zones  of  winds  farther  toward  the  north  and  the 
south  alternately.  These  same  changes  would  take 
place,  but  with  much  greater  regularity,  if  the 
ocean  covered  the  entire  earth,  and  there  were  no 
land  to  produce  irregularity :  thus  in  England,  and 
in  Northern  Europe  generally,  there  is  a  contention 
of  the  north-east  and  the  south-west  winds,  each  pre- 
vailing alternately,  though  the  southwest  wind  is 
the  most  continuous.  The  same  is  true  in  the  cor- 
responding latitudes  of  North  America,  excepting 
that  here  the  northerly  winds  are  more  prevalent. 
So  also  in  Russia  the  coldness  of  the  land,  acting  as 
an  auxiliary  to  the  northerly  wind,  causes  it  to  pre- 
vail during  most  of  the  time,  while,  in  the  same 
latitude,  in  western  Europe,  southerly  winds  pre- 
dominate. The  great  quantities  of  heat  derived 
from  the  neighboring  continent  of  Africa,  and  the 
influences  of  the  warm  waters  of  the  so-called 
Gulf  stream,  must  be  taken  into  the  account  of  the 
European  winds,  and  left  out  when  considering 
those  of  America  and  Russia. 


THE  WINDS.  119 

When  the  upper  current  of  air  from  the  equator 
descends  at  the  30th  degree,  another  current  from 
the  opposite  direction  descends  near  the  same  place 
at  the  same  time :  one  moves  north  and  the  other 
south.  I  have  described  the  currents  from  the  south 
as  all  returning  to  the  south  again,  and  the  currents 
from  the  north  as  all  going  again  northward.  But 
this  may  not  necessarily  be  always  the  case ;  for, 
if  the  two  currents  should  be  very  unequal  in  tem- 
perature or  humidity,  I  can  easily  conceive  that 
they  might  mingle,  in  some  degree  at  least,  so  as 
to  produce  an  equilibrium.  There  would  probably 
be  a  collision  and  a  partial  interchange  of  currents, 
and  in  this  way  air,  and  even  volcanic  ashes,  may 
perhaps  be  transferred  from  one  zone  or  hemisphere 
to  another. 

THE   AURORA   BOREALIS  OR  POLAR  LIGHTS   AND 
THEIR  RELATION  TO  THE  ATMOSPHERE. 

The  phenomena  of  the  polar  lights  have  never 
been  reduced  to  a  consistent  theory.  I  have  often 
thought,  as  I  watched  their  fitful  changes,  that 
they  must  be  in  some  way  connected  with  the  at- 
mosphere. They  seem  to  be  associated  with  light, 
thin,  silver-grey  clouds,  that  arrange  themselves  in 
rays,  which  are  not  as  changeable  as  the  lights 
themselves.  I  have  lately  been  led  to  suspect  that 
they  may  be  produced  by  the  sudden  condensation 
of  the  moisture,  in  the  column  of  warm  air  that 
rises  near  the  60th  degree  of  north  and  also  of 
south  latitude.  "  The  auroral  arch  is  always  east 


120  AURORA  OR 

and  west,  never  north  and  south,"  and  in  this  it 
agrees  with  the  zones  of  the  winds.  M.  Struve 
and  Admiral  Wrangel  assign  a  moderate  elevation 
to  the  aurora.  Thiereman,  in  Iceland,  regarded 
the  clouds  as  the  substratum  of  the  aurora.  Frank- 
lin, Richardson  and  Wrangel  confirm  this  idea. 
The  clouds  are  thin  and  light,  and  it  has  been 
noticed  that  the  rays  are  most  abundant  near  them. 
Humboldt  remarks  that  "these  clouds  seem  to  ar- 
range themselves  like  rays  in  the  day  time.  After 
a  display  during  the  night,  the  same  clouds  are 
sometimes  seen  in  the  morning  that. before  were 
luminous."  "  The  most  modern  observers  place  the 
aurora  in  the  region  of  the  clouds  ;  they  believe  it 
to  be  blown  to  and  fro  by  the  wind.  Capt.  Frank- 
lin saw  an  aurora  illuminate  the  lower  surface  of  a 
cloud." 

It  has  been  observed  that  the  aurora  is  most 
frequent  and  brilliant  near  the  sea  coast.  Does 
not  this  indicate  that  the  condensation  of  the  mois- 
ture derived  from  evaporation  is  concerned  in  pro- 
ducing the  phenomena?  It  is  well  known  that 
thunder  is  seldom  heard  in  the  polar  regions.  Why 
is  this  ?  Is  it  not  because  the  moisture  is  con- 
densed and  frozen  before  it  has  time  to  collect  into 
large  clouds?  It  is  known  that  the  aurora  is  dis- 
played in  the  most  remarkable  manner  during  the 
changes  of  the  seasons.  This  is  what  might  be 
expected  if  it  is  produced  by  the  column  of  air 
that  rises  from  the  zone  of  the  60th  degree. 

At  the  equator,  the  immense  quantity  of  moisture 


POLAR  LIGHTS.  121 

that  rises  is  formed  into  vast  clouds,  the  condensa- 
tions of  which  produce  tremendous  thunder  claps, 
and  terrific  flashes  of  lightning.  At  the  60th  de- 
gree the  rising  column  of  warm  air  contains  com- 
paratively little  moisture,  and  that  is  probably 
condensed  as  it  rises,  and  before  it  has  had  time  to 
form  into  large  clouds,  or  to  unite  into  rain  drops. 
The  heat  thus  suddenly  set  free  is  probably  con- 
verted into  electricity,  which  leaps  from  particle  to 
particle,  producing  the  auroral  light,  and  disturb- 
ing the  magnetic  needle. 

This  theory  of  the  northern  lights  could  not  have 
been  advanced  before  it  was  known  or  even  sus- 
pected that  a  column  of  warm  air  rises  at  the  60th 
degree. 

I  suppose  that  lightning  is  nothing  but  latent 
heat,  suddenly  converted  into  electricity  by  the 
condensation  of  the  clouds ;  and  that  the  aurora  is 
merely  a  subdivided  and  diffused  lightning  storm, 
the  separate  flashes  being  too  minute  to  produce 
thunder.  Some  observers  have  declared  that  they 
have  heard  crackling  noises  issuing  from  the  aurora 
— but  this,  though  probable,  does  not  seem  to  be 
fully  confirmed. 

CYCLONES. 

Cyclones   are   whirlwinds    which    originate    in 
certain  localities  near  the  equator.    In  the  northern 
hemisphere  they  generally  commence  10  or  15  de- 
grees north  of  the  equator,  and  move  north-west  to 
11 


122  CYCLONES. 

near  the  30th  degree  when  they  change  their 
course  and  travel  north-east.  In  the  southern  hemi- 
phere  they  proceed  in  the  same  manner,  but  their 
directions  are  reversed :  that  is  to  say,  they  com- 
mence a  few  degrees  from  the  equator,  and  travel 
south-west  to  about  the  20th  degree,  and  then 
change  their  course  and  travel  south-east.  They 
obey  a  double  movement :  one  a  gyratory  or  rotato- 
ry, and  the  other  a  movement  of  translation.  North 
of  the  equator  this  gyratory  movement  is  from 
right  to  left  by  the  north,  or  in  a  direction  con- 
trary to  the  hands  of  a  watch.  South  of  the  equator 
the  movement  is  in  a  direction  coincident  with  the 
hands  of  a  watch.  The  movement  of  translation 
is  from  2  to  40  miles  per  hour.  The  whirlwinds 
vary  in  diameter  from  50  miles  to  1000. 

Several  questions  have  long  been  asked  concern- 
ing these  cyclones  without  receiving  any  reason- 
able answer: 

1.  Why  do  they  originate  in  both  hemispheres 
at  about  10  or  15  degrees  from  the  equator? 

2.  Why  do  they  never  cross  the  equator,  or  even 
approach  very  near  to  it  ? 

3.  Why  do  they  infest  certain  particular  locali- 
ties? 

4.  Why  do  they,  in  the  northern  hemisphere, 
move  north-west    a   certain    distance,    and    then 
change  their  course  to  the  north-east  ? 

5.  Why  do  they,   in  the  southern  hemisphere, 
pursue  exactly  the  contrary  course? 

6.  Why  are  these  whirlwinds  most  frequent  at 
the  change  of  the  seasons  ? 


CYCLONES.  123 

A  true  theory  of  the  cyclones  will  answer  all 
these  questions. 

A  whirlwind  is  a  body  of  air,  whirling  like  a 
top,  which  may  be  driven  in  any  direction  by  a 
force  that  impels  it  by  acting  on  one  side  of  the 
mass,  while  on  the  opposite  side  it  meets  with  but 
little  resistance.  The  question  then  is :  what  force, 
in  the  northern  hemisphere,  acts  upon  the  whirling 
mass  to  drive  it  in  a  north-west  direction  a  certain 
distance  and  no  farther?  and  why  does  it  then 
turn  and  move  north-east  ?  We  must  consider  that 
the  trade  wind  in  the  southern  hemisphere  blows 
toward  the  north-west,  and  when  a  particular 
locality  a  short  distance  north  of  the  equator  is 
abnormally  heated,  the  trade  wind  from  the  south- 
ern hemisphere  crosses  the  equator  into  the  north- 
ern hemisphere.  It  does  net  proceed  far  without 
encountering  opposite  currents,  and  a  whirlwind  is 
created,  which  receives  an  impetus  from  the  in- 
truding currents  in  a  north-west  direction,  the  di- 
rection in  which  the  intruding  trade  wind  itself  is 
moving.  The  north-west  impulse,  not  being  con- 
tinued or  repeated,  is  soon  exhausted,  and,  there- 
fore, the  whirlwind  no  longer  moves  north-west. 
From  this  turning  point,  which  may  be  considered 
a  neutral  point,  it  moves  north-east  for  the  same 
reason  that  the  normal  wind  and  the  ocean  cur- 
rents both  move  in  the  same  direction  between  the 
30th  and  60th  parallels.  There  is  a  perfect  analogy 
between  the  path  of  the  cyclone  and  that  of  the 
elliptical  ocean  current.  They  both  pursue  the 


124  CYCLOSTE&. 

same  course  in  the  same  localities.  The  elliptical 
current  in  the  north  Atlantic  moves  north-west 
from  the  equator  to  near  the  30th  degree,  and  then 
turns  and  moves  north-east.  The  reason  of  this 
has  been  explained  in  another  place,  and  the  same 
principles  apply  to  the  course  of  the  cyclones. 


RECAPITULATION  OF  GEONOMY. 

1.  The  ocean   waters  primitively   covered  the 
Avhole  globe.     The  difference  of  temperature  caused 
warm  currents  to  flow  poleward,  and  cold  currents 
to  flow  from  the  poles. 

2.  A  current  cannot  flow  alternately  to  and  from 
the  polar  and  equatorial  regions  without  pursuing 
an  elliptical  path.     The  reason  is  that  the  easterly 
force  which  the  water  possesses  in  the  lower  lati- 
tudes is  carried  with  it  when  it  flows  to  the  higher, 
and  causes  it  to  flow  more  and  more  easterly  ;  and 
when  the  current  is  cooled  and  begins  to  return  to 
lower  latitudes,  the  easting  is  not  yet  exhausted ; 
therefore,  in  the  northern  hemisphere  the  elliptical 
current  moves  south-east  from  the  polar  region ; 
but  before  it  reaches   the   equator   it  turns   and 
moves  relatively  south-west.    After  reaching  the 
equator  it  moves  nearly  due  west  until  its  warmth 
causes  it  to  overflow  toward  the  pole ;  and  then  it 
runs  north-west  a  considerable  distance  before  its 


RECAPITULATION.  125 

westing  is  exhausted,  and  it  begins  to  flow  north- 
east. 

3.  The  easting  which  a  current  acquires  in  mov- 
ing poleward,  and  the  westing  which  it  acquires  in 
moving  toward  the  equator  are  both  so  great  that, 
a  current  moving  to  and  from  the  equator  and  the 
sixtieth  degree  of  latitude,  must  necessarily  move 
in  an  ellipse,  the  diameter  of  which,  east  and  west, 
is  so  great  that  not  more  than  three  such  ellipses 
can  exist  in  one  hemisphere.     This  is  the  reason 
why,  when  there  was  no  dry  land,  there  were  just 
three  elliptical  currents  in  the  northern  hemisphere, 
and  the  same  number  in  the  southern. 

4.  The  sediment  of  the  ocean,  which  at  first  was 
mostly  of  a  chemical  or  an  organic  character,  fell 
in  the  largest  quantities  upon  the  ocean  floor  with- 
in the  limits  of  the  ellipses,  or  immediately  be- 
neath the  currents.     The  weight  of  the  accumu- 
lated sediment  caused  the  crust  of  the  earth  to 
sink,  and  thus  created  an  oceanic  basin.     Thus  it 
was  that  six  immense  basins  were  formed,  namely : 
the  north  and  south  Atlantic,  the  north  and  south 
Pacific,  and  the  north  and  south  Indian  oceans. 

5.  The  lava  crowded  away  from  beneath  these 
six  basins  was  forced  to  rise  in  the  angular  spaces 
between    them.       These    inter-spaces    constituted 
three  series  of  continents :  North  and  South  Amer- 
ica  and   Graham's   Land    constitute    one    series ; 
north-east  Asia,  Australia  and  Victoria  constitute 
a  second  series ;  Europe  and  Africa,  and  an  indefi- 


126  RECAPITULATION. 

nite  and  partially  submarine  portion  of  the  Ant- 
arctic continent,  constitute  the  third  series. 

6.  Five  of  the  six  primitive  ocean  basins  still 
exist ;  but  the  sixth,  namely,    the   north   Indian, 
has  been  mostly  elevated  and  drained.     The  Medi- 
terranean,  Euxine,   Caspian,    Red,    Persian,    and 
Arabian   seas   are  vestiges  of  the   ancient   north 
Indian  ocean.     The  east  and  west  running  moun- 
tains of  Asia  and  Europe  were  produced  by  the 
repeated  depressions  of  the  ocean  south  of  them, 
after  the  north  and  south  running  mountains  were 
elevated. 

7.  The  primitive  and  normal  mountains,  on  the 
borders  of  the   continents,   run  in   loxodromic   or 
oblique  directions,- — that  is,  north-east  and  south 
west,  or  south-east  and  north- west ;  and  not  direct- 
ly north  and  south,  nor  directly  east  and  west ;  in 
this  respect  they  harmonize  with  the  currents  that 
indirectly  produced  them. 

8.  The  reason  why  the  continents  are  connected, 
north  and  south,  by  narrow  necks  of  land,  and  are 
not  thus  connected  east  arid  west,  and  also  the  rea- 
son why  each  northern  ocean  has  a  southern  ocean 
directly  opposite, — is  because  the  changes  of  the 
seasons  caused  an  annual  interchange  of  currents 
between  the  northern  and  southern  hemispheres ; 
and  no  such  currents  moved  east  and  west. 

9.  There   are   two   classes  of   ocean    currents, 
namely:  the  elliptical  and  the  local.      The  local 
differ  from  the  elliptical  in  the  fact  that  they  do 
not  move  alternately  north  and  south  ;  they  either 


KECAPITUL  ATION.  127 

move  north  or  south  in  a  local  and  limited  region, 
and  do  not  return  ;  or,  if  they  partially  return,  the 
course  they  pursue  is  a  semi-elliptical  curve. 

10.  Local  currents  produced  the  hollowing  out 
of  the  western  sides  of  the  tropical  continents. 

11.  The  cold  south-east  currents  from  the  Arctic 
sea,  by  which  the  drift  formation  was  produced, 
were  the  complements  of  warm,  north-east  local 
currents,  that  previously  entered  that  sea  while  the 
Arctic  lands  were  rising. 

12.  If  the  six  ocean  basins  had  sunk  equally, 
the  continents  would  have  been  equally  elevated, 
and  the  map  of  the  world  would  have  been  per- 
fectly symmetrical. 

1 3.  The  latest  formed  mountains  are  the  highest ; 
because  the  loads  of  sediment  on  the  ocean's  floor 
have  been  constantly  increasing  from  the  begin- 
ning ;  and  consequently  the  later  depressions  have 
been  deeper  and  more  sudden. 

14.  The    atmospheric   circulation   differs    from 
that   of  the  ocean  in  this,  that  the  air  becomes 
chilled  by  rising  three  or  four  miles  into  the  higher 
regions  of  the  atmosphere ;  whereas,  the  water  is 
compelled  to  flow  three  or  four  thousand  miles  for 
the  same  purpose. 

15.  When  the  column  of  warm  air  that  rises  at 
the  equator  becomes  chilled,  it  gradually  moves 
down  an   inclined   plane   to   the  earth,   which   it 
reaches  at  the  thirtieth   degree   of  latitude,  and 
flows  along  the  surface  to  the  equator.     From  the 
thirtieth  degree  a  current  flows  to  the  sixtieth  de- 


128  RECAPITULATION. 

gree,  along  the  surface,  and  then  rises  and  returns 
as  an  upper  current,  to  the  thirtieth  degree,  when  it 
sinks  and  repeats  the  circuit.  From  the  polar  re- 
gion a  current  moves  to  the  sixtieth  degree,  where 
it  rises  and  flows  to  the  polar  region,  and  there 
sinks  and  repeats  the  circuit. 

16.  The  polar  lights  are  probably   caused   by 
the.    column    of    air   that    rises    at    the    sixtietli 
degree ;  the  heat  in  the  air,  and  in  the  moisture, 
being  converted  into  electricity. 

1 7.  The  cyclones,  or  traveling  whirlwinds,  that 
occur  in   certain  limited  localities  near  the  equa- 
tor,  and  which,  in   the  northern   hemisphere,  al- 
ways move  first  north-west  and  then  north-east, 
are  probably  caused  in  each  instance,  by  the  nor- 
mal current  of  one  hemisphere  overflowing  into  the 
opposite,  to  fill  a  vacuum  produced  by  great  local 
heat.     When  the  westerly  impulse  given   to   the 
cyclone  by  the  intruding  current  is  exhausted,  it 
moves  easterly  for  the  same  reason  that  all  the 
other  poleward  currents  do. 


ASTROGENEA: 

A 

THEORY  OF  THE  FORMATION 

OF 

PLANETARY  SYSTEMS. 

BY 

J.   STANLEY   GKRIMES. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  by 

J.  STANLEY  GRIMES, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Eastern  District  of  Michigan. 


DAILY  POST  PRESS,  DETROIT. 


CONTENTS. 


SECTION  I.— INTRODUCTION. 

SECTION  II. — FORMATION  OF  THE  SOLAR  SYSTEM  ;  CAUSE 
OF  THE  RELATIVE  MAGNITUDES  AND  DEN- 
SITIES OF  THE  PLANETS. 

SECTION  III. — INTERVALS;  COMMON  DIFFERENCE  OP 
THE  ORBITAL  VELOCITIES  OF  PLANETS. 

SECTION  IV. — SERIAL  RELATIONS  OF  THE  PLANETS. 
SECTION  V. — COMPARATIVE  ASTROGENEA. 

SECTION  VI. — PHYSICAL  CAUSE  OF  GRAVITATION  ;  CAUSE 
OF  THE  SUN'S  HEAT;  CAUSE  OF  THE  IN- 
TERNAL HEAT  OF  THE  EARTH. 


ASTROGENEA. 


SECTION  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

THE  ancients  possessed  some  correct  ideas  con- 
cerning astronomy;  but  the  first  important 
step  toward  a  true  theory  of  the  solar  system  was 
taken  by  Copernicus.  In  the  year  1543  he  gave  to 
the  world  the  evidences,  which  he  had  long  been 
accumulating,  that  the  earth  rotates  upon  its  axis ; 
and  that  all  the  planets  revolve,  in  concentric  or- 
bits, from  west  to  east,  around  the  sun.  The  proofs 
of  this  new  doctrine  were,  however,  so  incomplete, 
that  Tycho  Brahe,  fifty  years  afterward,  rejected 
it ;  and  Lord  Bacon  regarded  Copernicus  as  "  a 
man  who  thinks  nothing  of  introducing  fictions  of 
any  kind  into  nature,  provided  his  calculations  turn 
out  well."  But  the  revelations  of  the  telescope, 
which  Galileo  first  applied  to  astronomy  in  1609, 
literally  shed  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  subject.  It 
was  found  that  the  sun  and  all  the  known  plan- 
ets revolve  on  their  axes ;  and  that  both  Jupiter 
and  Saturn  are  centers,  around  each  of  which  a 


134  INTRODUCTION. 

family  of  secondary  planets  revolve.  The  next 
great  discovery  was  that  made  by  Kepler.  He 
demonstrated  that  the  distances  of  any  two  plan- 
ets from  the  sun  are  so  mathematically  related  to 
their  orbital  revolutions,  that  when  one  is  known 
the  other  can  readily  be  calculated ;  the  squares  of 
the  periods  of  two  planets  being,  to  each  other,  in 
the  same  ratio  as  the  cubes  of  their  mean  distances. 
The  reason  of  this  intimate  relation  between  the 
periods  and  the  distances,  was  the  next  great  dis- 
covery. It  was  made,  or  rather  completed,  by 
Newton.  With  the  aid  of  suggestions  and  discove- 
ries previously  made  by  Kepler,  Galileo,  Descartes 
and  Picard,  he  demonstrated  that  the  planets 
move  in  orbits  around  the  sun,  because  they  are 
acted  upon  by  two  different  forces ;  one  of  which 
is  gravitation,  and  is  directly  as  the  mass  of  the 
sun,  and  inversely  as  the  square  of  his  distance. 
He  did  not  pretend  to  give  any  theory  of  the  ori- 
gin, or  physical  cause  of  gravitation ;  but  he  proved 
that  it  operates  in  all  known  bodies  by  one  invari- 
able law.  The  other  force,  which  antagonizes  grav- 
itation, and  modifies  its  effects  \apon  the  motions  of 
planets,  is  called  centrifugal  or  tangential.  The 
origin  of  this  force  is  also  unknown ;  but  it  is  sup- 
posed to  result  from  a  primitive  impulse,  received 
by  each  planet  in  the  following  manner :  the  nebu- 
lous  matter  of  which  planatary  systems  were  prim- 
itively composed,  was  collected  from  a  diffused 
state,  into  comet-like  masses,  situated  not  very  dis- 
tant from  each  other  in  the  regions  of  space.  These 


INTRODUCTION.  135 

masses,  by  mutually  attracting  one  another,  came 
into  collision.  The  necessary  result  was  a  whirl- 
ing or  rotatory  motion  of  the  united  mass,  and  the 
consequent  generation  of  centrifugal  force. 

If  this  was  the  origin  of  all  axial  rotations,  as  it 
probably  was,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  any 
common  law,  or  serial  relation,  will  be  found  to 
exist  among  them,  analogous  to  the  other  serial  re- 
lations, which  are  discussed  in  a  subsequent  part 
of  this  essay.  It  is  true  that  the  known  axial  ro- 
tations of  the  planets  are  nearly  in  the  same  ratio 
as  their  magitudes ;  but  this  coincidence  is  prob- 
ably fortuitous. 

By  means  of  these  discoveries  of  Kepler,  New- 
ton and  others,  astronomers  are  now  enabled  to 
account  for  all  the  motions,  periods  and  purturba- 
tions  of  the  planets.  There  are,  however,  several 
prominent  facts  in  regard  to  the  solar  system  that 
have  remained  still  unexplained.  No  reason  has 
been  given  why  the  planets  differ  as  they  do  in 
their  magnitudes,  their  densities,  or  their  intervals  ; 
nor  why  they  all  agree  in  moving  in  the  same  di- 
rection, and  in  the  same  plane.  It  has,  however, 
been  suspected  that  these  peculiarities  are  in  some 
way  related  to  the  circumstances  in  which  the 
planets  were  originally  formed. 

The  idea  was  vaguely  expressed  by  Tycho, 
Kepler,  Galileo,  and  even  by  Newton,  that  the 
sun  and  planets  may  be  merely  precipitations  and 
aggregations  of  matter  which  had  previously  ex- 
isted, in  a  diffused  state,  in  the  regions  of  space. 


136  INTRODUCTION. 

But  Sir  William  Herschell  was  the  first  astronomer 
who  remarked  that  the  appearances  assumed  by 
some  of  the  siderial  masses,  indicated  that  they 
may  be  planetary  systems  in  a  nebulous,  mist-like, 
imperfect  state  of  condensation,  rotating  upon 
their  axes.  He  suggested  that  possibly  a  vast 
rotating  globe,  or  wheel,  of  nebulous  matter,  may 
ultimately  resolve  itself  into  a  sun  and  planets. 
Taking  up  the  subject  where  Herschell  had  left  it, 
Laplace  undertook  to  conjecture  concerning  the 
manner  in  which  the  planets  of  our  system  became 
detached  from  the  primitive  nebulous  wheel,  of 
which  they  had  once  formed  a  part.  He  supposed 
that  the  nebulous  matter  was  kept  in  a  vaporous 
and  expanded  condition,  by  means  of  the  great 
heat  which  it  possessed ;  and  that  the  radiation  of 
the  heat  caused  the  nebula  to  shrink  into  a  smaller 
space.  On  mechanical  principles,  he  knew  that  all 
the  rotatory  force  possessed  by  the  nebulous  wheel 
in  its  expanded  condition,  would  be  retained  in  its 
more  condensed  state ;  and  therefore,  the  centri- 
fugal force  would  gradually  increase,  and  at 
length  become  so  great  as  to  overcome  the  sun's 
attraction;  consequently,  the  outer  rim  of  the 
nebulous  wheel  would  be  detached  from  the  main 
body,  and  constitute  a  separate  rotating  ring.  In 
the  same  manner  a  second  ring,  and  then  a  third 
was  detached ;  and  this  was  repeated  until  the  sun 
alone  remained.  Each  ring  afterward  became 
concentrated  into  a  planet,  in  a  manner  which 
Laplace  does  not  very  clearly  describe. 


INTRODUCTION.  137 

Notwithstanding  some  glaring  defects  in  this 
"nebular  hypothesis,"  it  has  been  regarded  as 
reasonable,  and  probably  in  the  main  true,  by  some 
able  astronomers ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  has 
been  unmercifully  condemned  by  many  others. 
That  the  solar  system  has  been  evolved  out  of  a 
single  nebulous  wheel,  there  are,  to  my  mind,  the 
most  satisfactory  proofs.  The  concentric,  and  al- 
mOst  circular  orbits  in  which  the  planets  move,  all 
in  one  direction,  from  west  to  east,  in  nearly  the 
same  plane  as  the  sun's  equator, — can  be  accounted 
for  upon  no  other  rational  theory.  But,  while  we 
must  admit  that  the  sun  and  planets  were  origi- 
nally a  single  mass,  it  does  not  follow  that  we 
must  adopt  the  hypothesis  of  Laplace,  concerning 
the  manner  in  which  the  nebula  was  transformed 
into  rings  and  planets. 

Independent  of  the  new  theory  advanced  in 
this  essay,  the  most  serious  objection  to  the  hy- 
pothesis of  Laplace,  is  one  which  I  have  never 
seen  mentioned.  It  is  founded  upon  the  dis- 
tribution of  matter  in  the  solar  system.  If  we 
suppose  all  the  matter  to  be  divided  into  768 
parts,  767  of  these  are  in  the  sun,  and  one  part 
alone  includes  all  the  matter  of  the  planets  and 
satellites.  Again,  if  we  estimate  all  the  matter  of 
the  planets,  exclusive  of  the  sun,  as  consisting  of 
475  parts,  338  of  these  parts  are  in  Jupiter  alone, 
and  101  parts  are  in  Saturn.  These  two  planets 
are  included  within  the  inner  third  of  the  distance 
from  the  sun  to  the  orbit  of  Neptune :  only  36  parts 
12* 


138  INTRODUCTION. 

are  found  in  the  outer  two-thirds  of  the  radius 
of  the  system.  Surely  centrifugal  force  could  not 
have  prevailed  and  thrown  off  the  planets  from 
the  central  part,  while  so  large  a  proportion  of  the 
matter  was  moving  toward  the  centre.  It  is  clear 
that  centripetal  force  must  have  predominated  dur- 
ing the  formation  of  the  planets,  and  that  it  came 
very  near  carrying  the  whole  of  the  matter  to  the 
centre ;  it  came  so  near  that  it  actually  did  carry 
767  out  of  768  parts  of  it  there.  We  now  begin 
to  wonder  what  process  it  could  be,  that  concen- 
trated so  large  a  portion  of  the  nebulous  matter  in 
a  central  space  less  than  one  million  of  miles  in 
diameter,  and  yet  allowed  so  small  a  portion  as  the 
768th  part  to  be  scattered  over  a  space  about  6000 
millions  of  miles  in  diameter. 


SECTION  II. 

FORMATION  OF  THE  SOLAR  SYSTEM. 

CAUSE  OF  THE  RELATIVE  MAGNITUDES  AND  DEN- 
SITIES OF   THE  PLANETS. 

The  new  theory  which  I  propose  concerning  the 
formation  of  the  solar  system  is  all  embraced  in  the 
following  proposition:  The  relative  magnitudes, 
densities  and  distances  of  the  sun  and  planets,  are 
such  as  would  necessarily  result  from  the  axial  ro- 
tation of  a  nebulous  mass  in  a  resisting  medium. 

If  we  admit  the  existence  of  an  etherial  fluid, — 
such  as  that,  the  vibrations  of  which  produce  light 
and  heat, — we  must  also  admit  that  it  will  present 
a  slight  resistance  to  the  passage  of  a  body  through 
it.  By  regarding  the  etherial  fluid  as  analogous  to 
atmospheric  air,  we  can  readily  understand  that 
the  lighter  a  body  is  the  greater  will  be  the  re- 
tarding effect  of  the  resistance.  We  can  also  un- 
derstand that  the  resistance  of  the  medium  will  be 
in  a  direct  ratio  to  the  velocity  of  the  body  that 
moves  through  it.  One  of  the  objections,  which  it 
is  said  that  Newton  made  to  the  now  received 
theory  of  light,  namely,  that  it  is  the  vibratory  or 
undulating  motion  of  an  etherial  fluid,  was,  that 
such  a  fluid  medium  would  deflect  the  planets  from 


140  FORMATION  OF  THE 

their  normal  and  proper  orbits,  and  cause  them  to 
move  by  spiral  paths  to  the  sun.  The  undulatory 
theory  of  light  is  now  firmly  established ;  and  the 
existence  of  a  resisting  medium  cannot,  therefore, 
be  denied.  Indeed,  it  seems  impossible  to  avoid 
the  conclusion  that  the  fact  of  gravitation,  itself, 
demonstrates  the  necessary  existence  of  a  medium 
through  which  that  force  is  communicated  from 
one  planet  to  another:  for  it,  is  certain  that  force 
cannot  be  communicated  except  through  a  material 
medium. 

When  it  was  found  that  Encke's  comet  approach- 
ed nearer  the  sun  with  each  revolution, — so  that  in 
thirty  thousand  years  it  must  fall  into  it, — the 
ablest  astronomers  in  Europe,  after  exhausting  all 
other  modes  of  explanation,  finally  concluded  that 
the  comet,  being  exceedingly  light,  is  deflected  in- 
ward by  the  resistance  of  the  etherial  air  which  it 
encounters  in  space ;  and  that  it  is,  therefore,  actu- 
ally pursuing  a  spiral  path  toward  the  sun. 

"  Now  it  appears  probable  that  this  comet  is  approaching 
the  Sun :  on  every  successive  appearance,  its  orbit  appears 
somewhat  contracted ;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
the  contraction  will  go  on  until  it  is  either  absorbed  in  that 
luminary,  or  altogether  dissipated  by  its  beams.  And  after 
searching  earnestly  for  some  other  cause,  most  inquirers  are 
inclined  to  refer  this  extraordinary  and  hitherto  unparalleled 
change,  to  a  RESISTING  MEDIUM  OR  ETHER  occupying  the 
planetary  spaces.  "  I  cannot  but  express  my  belief,"  said 
Professor  Airy,  "  that  the  principal  part  of  the  theory — viz., 
an  effect  exactly  similar  to  that  which  a  resisting  medium 
would  produce — is  perfectly  established  by  the  reasoning  in 


SOLAE  SYSTEM.  141 

Encke's  memoir ;"  and  similar  opinions  have  been  offered  by 
other  great  authorities.  *  *  *  How  singular  is 
it  that  we  should  have  been  guided  to  a  truth  so  remote  and 
difficult — one  concerning  which  the  grander  phenomena  of 
our  system  are  silent — by  the  motions  of  a  wandering  object, 
in  comparison  with  whose  etherial  nature,  even  one  of  these 
light  flocculi  or  flakes  of  cloud,  which  scarce  stain  the  sky 
of  a  summer  evening,  is  heavy  and  substantial !" — NICHOLS. 

When  the  nebulous  wheel,  from  whence  the  solar 
system  was  formed,  commenced  its  rotation,  it  must 
have  been  composed  of  matter  which  was  exceed- 
ingly attenuated ;  quite  as  much  so  as  that  of  any 
comet,  and,  if  possible,  more  so:  it  is,  therefore, 
perfectly  reasonable  to  presume  that  it  was  sub- 
jected to  the  influence  of  the  same  resisting  medium 
which  now  has  such  a  decided  eifect  upon  Encke's 
comet. 

If,  at  the  commencement  of  its  rotation,  the 
nebula  was  no  more  dense  or  massive  in  the  centre 
than  elsewhere,  the  first  effect  of  the  resisting  me- 
dium would  be  to  cause  a  large  portion  of  the 
lighter  matter  to  accumulate  there,  and  assume  the 
office  of  a  primary  body — a  sun.  The  attraction 
of  this  central  mass  would  at  once  establish  orbital 
motions  in  all  the  surrounding  nebulous  matter, 
whatever  might  be  its  form  or  condition.  The 
laws  of  Kepler,  so  called,  that  now  govern  the 
motions  of  all  secondary  planets,  must  have  con- 
troled  the  motions  of  the  secondary  nebulous  mat- 
ter, that  was  thus  necessarily  forced  to  move  in 
orbits  or  rings  around  the  central  body.  Accord- 


142  FORMATION  OP  THE 

ing  to  these  laws,  the  portions  that  were  nearest 
to  the  centre,  but  not  actually  attached  to  it,  must 
have  moved  around  it  with  the  greatest  velocity ; 
and  those  portions  which  were  most  remote,  with 
the  least  velocity. 

Sir  Charles  Lyell,  in  his  "Principles  of  Geology," 
objected  to  the  prevailing  opinions  concerning  geo- 
logical catastrophes ;  and  insisted  that  it  was  more 
philosophical  to  account  for  the  changes  which  the 
earth  has  undergone,  by  referring  them  to  the 
operation  of  still  existing  causes.  I  am  not  only  a 
convert  to  his  doctrine,  but  I  would  apply  it  to  the 
formation  of  the  planets.  The  same  causes  which 
now  produce  the  differences  of  orbital  velocities, 
were  in  operation  before  the  planets  were  formed, 
and  caused  differences  in  the  velocities  of  the 
chaotic  materials  of  which  the  planets  were  sub- 
sequently composed.  If  all  the  planets  could  now 
be  crumbled  to  dust,  and  that  dust  be  scattered 
equally  between  the  orbit  of  Neptune  and  that  of 
Mercury, — each  separate  particle  of  the  dust  would 
have  a  tendency  to  move  in  an  orbit  of  its  own. 
This  tendency  would,  in  some  degree,  be  overcome 
by  the  mutual  attraction  of  the  particles  for  each 
other;  and  the  result  would  be  the  formation  of  a 
series  of  concentric  rings,  differing  in  width  and 
velocities :  the  width  of  the  rings  would  increase, 
and  the  velocities  decrease,  in  accordance  with 
their  increasing  distances  from  the  sun.  In  fact, 
the  same  law  prevailed  during  the  formation  of  the 
planets  as  that  which  now  determines  their  relative 
velocities. 


SOLAR  SYSTEM.  143 

The  velocity  of  Mercury  is  nine  .times  greater 
than  that  of  Neptune, — five  times  greater  than  that 
of  Saturn ;  three  and  a  half  times  greater  than  that 
of  Jupiter ;  and  twice  as  great  as  that  of  Mars.  At 
the  distance  of  nine  millions  of  miles  from  the  sun, 
the  velocity  of  a  body  would  be  twice  as  great  as 
that  of  Mercury ;  and  at  the  distance  of  four  mil- 
lions it  would  be  four  times  as  great,  or  more  than 
four  hundred  thousand  miles  an  hour.  It  is  plain, 
therefore,  that  the  resisting  medium  would  pro- 
duce its  greatest  effects  between  the  sun  and  the 
orbit  of  Jupiter;  and  that  ite  effects  would  be 
gradually  less  as  the  orbital  velocities  decreased 
with  the  distances  from  the  sun. 

To  form  a  correct  idea  of  the  actual  effects  of  the 
resisting  medium,  upon  the  form  and  proportions  of 
the  embryo  solar  system,  or  nebulous  wheel, — we 
must  consider  what  would  necessarily  have  been 
the  form  of  the  nebula,  if  the  resisting  medium  had 
not  produced  any  effect  upon  its  proportions. 

It  is  well  known  to  mechanical  philosophers  that 
a  fluid  mass,  rotating  rapidly  on  its  axis,  must  ne- 
cessarily tend  to  assume  the  form  of  an  oblate 
spheroid, — a  double  convex  lens — a  wheel,  thickest 
in  the  centre,  and  gradually  thinner  to  the  outer 
edge.  This  would  have  been  the  form  of  the  em- 
bryo solar  system,  had  it  not  been  for  the  resisting 
etherial  medium,  and  the  greater  orbital  velocities 
of  the  secondary  matter  near  the  sun.  In  the  very 
place  (between  the  sun  and  Jupiter)  where  the 
planetary  matter  would  otherwise  have  been  most 


144  POEMATION  OF  THE 

abundant,  the  resisting  medium  caused  it  to  be  the 
least  in  quantity.  The  nebulous  wheel,  instead  of 
being  thickest  at  the  centre  and  gradually  thinner 
from  the  centre  outwards,  was,  by  the  resisting 
medium,  made  thickest  at  the  centre  and  at  the 
orbit  of  Jupiter,  and  very  thin  between  the  sun 
and  Jupiter,  where  the  four  small,  dense  planets 
are  now  situated. 


FIGUEE  1. 

The  outer  lines  in  figure  1  represent  the  primitive  form 
which  the  nebulous  mass  would  have  possessed  if  there 
had  been  no  resisting  medium.  The 
spaces  A  and  B  represent  the  matter 
which  was  swept  into  the  centre,  in 
consequence  of  its  great  velocity  in- 
creasing the  resistance.  After  the 
nebula  had  been  denuded  of  most  of 
its  matter  near  the  centre,  it  was 
thickest  at  the  place  (J)  where  Jupiter 
was  formed,  and  much  thinner  be- 
tween the  orbit  of  Jupiter  and  the 
sun,  where  the  four  small,  interior 
planets  are  located.  Beyond  the 
orbit  of  Jupiter  it  "gradually  became 

thinner,  so  that  Uranus  and  Neptune  are  very  much  smaller 
than  Saturn. 


SOLAR  SYSTEM.  145 

CAUSE    OF   THE   RELATIVE    DENSITIES    OF 
THE    PLANETS. 

Let  us  consider  the  effect  of  the  resisting  me- 
dium, combined  with  the  differences  of  orbital 
velocities,  upon  the  relative  densities  of  the  planets. 
The  matter  comprising  the  embryo  solar  system 
was  undoubtedly  possessed  of  different  degrees  of 
density.  The  natural  tendency  of  the  condensing 
nebulous  matter  would  be  to  form  itself  into  a 
countless  number  of  meteoric  or  comet-like  masses ; 
ea'ch  separate  mass  consisting  of  a  dense  central 
nucleus,  and  a  less  dense  atmospheric  envelope. 
Such,  in  fact,  is  now  the  actual  constitution  of  the 
comets.  The  nebula  became  a  vast  wilderness  of 
comets.  As  the  resisting  medium  affected  the 
lighter  and  more  expanded  matter  more  than  it 
did  the  denser,  it  follows  that  there  was  a  tendency 
of  the  atmospheric  envelope,  or  outer  portion  of 
each  mass,  to  become  separated  from  the  denser 
nucleus,  and  to  move  to  the  sun;  leaving  the  denser 
portions  behind  to  constitute  planets  and  planetet- 
tes.  The  greater  orbital  velocities  of  the  nebulous 
matter  near  the  primary,  caused  all  but  the  very 
densest  portion  of  it  to  be  swept  into  the  sun.  As 
the  distance  from  the  sun  increased,  the  influence 
of  orbital  velocity  was  lessened,  and  the  densities 
tended  to  decrease  in  the  same  ratio. 

Let  us  examine  a  table  (1)  of  the  densities,  (ac- 
cording to  Humboldt,)  and  compare  them  with  the 
velocities  of  the  same  planets,  to  see  how  far  they 
confirm  this  theory. 
13 


146  FOEMATION  OF  THE 

TABLE  1. 


Orbital 
Velocities. 


Mercury, 123  110 

Venus, 94  81 

Earth, 100  68 

Mars, 96  55 

Jupiter, ; 24  30 

Saturn, 14  22 

Uranus, 18  15 

Neptune, 23  12 

It  will  be  seen  that  from  Mercury  to  Saturn  the 
actual  densities  are  generally  accordant  with  our 
views ;  beyond  this  point  they  increase  in  density, 
and  thus  appear  at  first  thought  to  contradict 
theory.  But,  upon  a  more  careful  examination,  we 
find  that  this  apparent  discrepancy  is  in  reality  a 
confirmation.  The  matter  swept  into  the  sun  from 
the  interior  parts  of  the  system  was,  in  some  de- 
gree, replaced  by  that  swept  inward  from  the  mid- 
dle regions ;  and  that  swept  inward  from  the  mid- 
dle regions  was  replaced  by  that  from  the  outer 
regions :  but  the  light  matter  swept  inward  from 
the  outer  regions  could  not  be  replaced ;  and,  there- 
fore, the  outer  planets  would  be  more  dense  than 
those  in  the  middle,  while  those  in  the  interior 
would  be  the  densest  of  all. 

The  internal  heat  of  celestial  bodies  must  make 
some  difference  in  their  densities.  The  density  of 
the  sun  is  about  the  same  as  that  of  Jupiter ;  and 
this  is  readily  accounted  for  by  the  amazing  heat 
which  counteracts  the  vast  force  of  gravity  that 
presses  toward  his  centre.  In  another  essay,  I  have 


SOLAE  SYSTEM.  14V 

attempted  to  show  that  all  celestial  bodies  generate 
heat  internally,  in  the  direct  ratio  of  their  masses,  by 
the  assimilation  and  condensation  of  etherial  mat- 
ter, and  the  conversion  of  its  expansive  force  into 
radiant  force.  If  this  is  true,  the  larger  planets 
will,  all  else  equal,  be  less  dense  than  the  smaller 
ones.  The  mutual  attractions  and  purturbations  of 
of  the  embryo  planets,  during  the  countless  ages 
of  their  progressive  formation,  must  have  had  some 
influence  upon  their  relative  magnitudes  and  densi- 
ties, and,  perhaps,  also  upon  their  intervals.  The 
attraction  of  an  immense  exterior  mass,  like  Jupi- 
ter, would  certainly  prevent  much  of  the  light  mat- 
ter from  reaching  the  orbit  of  Mars ;  this  would 
not  only  account  for  the  anomalous  smallness,  but 
also  for  the  great  density  of  Mars.  The  second 
satellite  of  Jupiter  occupies  an  analogous  relative 
position,  and,  like  Mars,  it  is  remarkably  small  and 
dense.  At  the  first  thought,  it  would  seem  that, 
according  to  this  theory,  the  magnitudes  of  the 
planets  should  be  successively  greater  from  Mercury 
to  Neptune ;  whereas,  they  only  increase  outwardly 
to  Jupiter,  and  then  decrease.  A  little  examina- 
tion will  show  us  that  the  facts  are  in  strict  ac- 
cordance with  the  requirements  of  theory.  It 
should  be  recollected  that  the  tendency  of  rotation 
was  to  make  the  nebulous  wheel  thickest  in  the 
centre  and  gradually  thinner  to  the  outer  edge ; 
and  that  the  influence  of  the  resisting  medium  did 
not  change  this  form,  except  between  the  orbit  of 
Jupiter  and  the  sun.  Beyond  Jupiter  the  form  re- 


148  FORMATION  OF  THE 

mained  the  same  as  if  there  had  been  no  resisting 
medium:  that  is  to  say,  the  wheel  became  gradual- 
ly thinner  from  Jupiter  to  the  outer  edge.  This  is 
in  accordance  with  the  fact  that  Saturn  is  smaller 
than  Jupiter,  and  Uranus  and  Neptune  smaller  than 
either. 

This  theory  is  doubly  confirmed  by  the  satellitic 
systems  of  Jupiter  and  Saturn.  In  each  of  these 
the  distribution  of  matter  is  essentially  the  same 
as  in  the  solar  system.  There  is,  first,  a  central 
primary,  containing  many  times  more  matter  than 
all  the  secondaries  together;  second,  there  arp 
several  small  secondaries  near  the  primary;  third, 
there  is  one  giant  secondary,  containing  more  mat- 
ter than  all  the  other  secondaries  of  that  system  to- 
gether; fourth,  beyond  the  giant  are  one  or  more 
smaller  bodies  with  wide  intervals. 

Figures  2,  3  and  4  represent  very  clearly  the  analogies  of 
the  three  systems,  and  are  well  calculated  to  impress  our 
minds  with  the  idea  that  a  common  law  operated  in  their 
formation,  though  modified  by  the  peculiarities  of  each  sys- 
tem. The  dotted  line  around  the  solar  system  represents 
the  primitive  nebula  from  which  it  is  supposed  that  the 
planets  were  formed. 

A  single  glance  at  the  figures  is  sufficient  to  show  that  as 
Jupiter  is  a  giant  among  the  planets,  so  is  Ganymede  a  giant 
among  Jupiter's  satellites,  and  so  also  is  Titan  a  giant  among 
the  satellites  of  Saturn.  The  analogies  would  doubtless  ap- 
pear much  more  striking  if  all  the  undiscovered  bodies  in 
all  the  systems  could  be  represented.  In  the  present  sys- 
tems of  Astronomy,  these  common  points  of  resemblance 
are  entirely  meaningless. 


Neptune,  ... 


SOLAR  SYSTEM. 
FIGURE  2. — SOLAR  SYSTEM. 


149 


Uranus, 


Saturn,.. 


Jupiter, 


Mars,. 


Earth,  .. 
Venus,  . . 
Mercury, 


suw. 


150 


FORMATION  OF  THE 


FIG.  3. — Jur.  SYSTEM.         FIG.  4. — SAT.  SYSTEM. 
Japetus, 


Callisto, 


Hyperion, 


Ganymede, 


Titan,.. 


Europa, 


Rhea, 


Dione, 


Tethys, © 

Enceladus, ^ 

Mimas, © 


SOLAR  SYSTEM.  151 

INTER-PLANETARY    SPACES,    AND   THE    RELATIVE 

ORBITAL   VELOCITIES    OF   THE    PRIMITIVE 

RINGS   AND   PLANETS. 

I  agree  with  Laplace,  that  the  nebula  was  first 
divided  into  rings,  and  that  each  planet  was  formed 
by  the  concentration  of  the  matter  of  a  single  ring 
into  a  globular  mass ;  so  that  the  intervals,  could 
they  all  be  accurately  known,  would  indicate  the 
width  of  the  rings  that  once  tilled  the  same  spaces. 
But  I  propose  to  give  a  very  different  explanation 
from  that  of  Laplace,  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
rings  were  separated  from  the  parent  nebula  and 
from  each  other.  My  idea  is  that  a  nebula  could 
not  rotate  in  a  resisting  medium,  without  having  a 
large  proportion  of  its  lighter  matter  drawn  into 
its  centre.  The  great  central  mass,  thus  accumulat- 
ed, wo-uld  necessarily  assume  the  office  and  power 
of  a  primary  planet,  and  compel  all  the  nebulous 
matter  in  the  neighborhood  to  perform  the  offices 
of  secondary  bodies :  that  is  to  say,  the  matter 
near  the  sun  would  either  rush  into  its  bosom,  or 
revolve  in  concentric  orbits  around  the  centre. 

The  mutual  attraction  of  all  the  parts  of  the 
nebula  would  tend  to  bind  it  together,  in  rigid  con- 
nection with  the  central  mass,  like  the  parts  of  a 
vast  planet.  This  aggregating  tendency  would  be 
opposed  by  the  tendency  of  the  matter,  at  different 
distances  from  the  sun,  to  move  with  different 
orbital  velocities.  The  greater  the  difference  of 
any  two  portions  of  the  nebulous  matter  in  their 


152  FORMATION  OF  THE 

distances  from  the  sun,  the  greater  must  have  been 
their  tendencies  to  a  difference  of  orbital  velocities. 
If  the  cohesive  or  aggregating  tendency  could  have 
been  sufficiently  powerful,  the  whole  nebula  would 
have  remained  in  a  single  mass.  If,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  tendency  to  diifer  in  orbital  motion  could 
have  been  unopposed,  there  would  have  been  a  di- 
vision of  the  nebula  into  an  almost  infinite  number 
of  concentric  rings,  each  of  which  would  have 
moved  with  a  greater  velocity  the  nearer  it  was  to 
the  sun.  These  two  forces  antagonized  each  other ; 
one  tending  to  prevent  the  formation  of  any  rings, 
and  the  other  tending  to  the  formation  of  a  count- 
less number  of  rings  of  extreme  narrowness  :  the 
necessary  result  of  the  antagonism  was  a  com- 
promise. A  limited  number  of  rings  were  formed, 
which  were  wider  the  farther  removed  they  were 
from  the  central  primary.  Let  us  illustrate  this 
proposition.  If  a  row  of  bodies  could  be  arranged 
so  as  to  extend  in  a  radial  line  from  the  sun  to  the 
orbit  of  Xeptune,  the  mutual  attraction  of  those 
bodies  wTould  tend  to  preserve  the  line  unbroken ; 
but  the  differences  in  their  orbital  velocities  would 
not  permit  this.  The  line  would  be  broken  up  into 
a  definite  number  of  shorter  lines ;  the  longest  line 
in  the  series  being  the  one  most  distant  from  the 
sun,  and  the  shortest  the  one  nearest  to  the  sun. 
The  length  of  the  lines  would  be  regulated  by  the 
ratio  in  which  the  velocities  decreased  with  dis- 
tances. This  is  a  perfect  illustration  of  the  manner 
in  which  rings  were  formed. 


SECTION  III. 

INTERVALS,  AND  COMMON  DIFFERENCE  OF  THE 
ORBITAL  VELOCITIES. 

LET  us  denominate  the  nebulous  matter  that 
moved  around  the  embryo  sun,  secondary  mat- 
ter. Let  us  represent  the  force  of  aggregation,  or 
mutual  attraction  between  the  particles  of  the  sec- 
ondary matter,  by  the  number  1,582.  This  aggre- 
gating tendency  was  the  same  in  all  parts  of  the 
disk  of  secondary  matter;  it  was  equal  to  1,582  in 
the  inner,  the  middle  and  the  outer  parts.  The 
tendency  of  this  cohesive  force  of  1,582  was  to  pre- 
vent the  formation  of  rings.  Of  course,  no  rings 
could  be  formed  without  overcoming  it.  The  dif- 
ferences in  orbital  velocities  were  opposed  to  it. 
But  it  required  a  certain  difference  of  distance  from 
the  sun  to  obtain  a  difference  of  velocities  sufficient 
to  antagonize  1,582.  Not  only  so,  it  required  a 
greater  difference  of  distance  to  overcome  1,582, 
the  further  the  secondary  matter  was  situated  from 
the  sun.  Whenever  the  difference  of  distance  was 
so  great,  in  any  place,  as  to  cause  a  difference  of 
orbital  velocities  equal  to  1,582  miles  per  hour,  ag- 
gregation or  cohesion  was  overcome,  and  a  separate 
ring  was  formed.  It  follows,  that  since  there  was 
a  common  force  of  1,582  to  overcome,  there  must 
14 


154  INTERVALS  AND 

have  been  a  common  force  at  least  equal  to  1,582 
to  overcome  it ;  and  any  two  consecutive  rings 
must,  all  else  equal,  have  differed  in  orbital  veloci- 
ties 1,582.  If  all  the  rings  had  been  formed  into 
planets,  they  also  would  have  differed  1,582.  If 
several  rings,  from  any  cause,  were  prevented  from 
becoming  planets,  then  those  planets  that  were 
formed  would  differ  in  their  orbital  velocities  twice 
1,582,  or  thrice,  or  four  times,  or  some  greater  mul- 
tiple of  1,582.  By  referring  to  the  following  tables, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  actual  velocities  of  the 
known  planets  and  satellites  are  in  remarkable  ac- 
cordance with  this  theory.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
each  system  has  a  different  number  for  its  common 
difference,  though  all  are  subject  to  the  same  law. 

EXPLANATION    OF   TABLE    2. 

In  the  following  table,  the  difference  between  the  velocity 
of  Mercury  and  that  of  Venus  is  put  down  as  1,582,  multi- 
plied by  19,  which  is  equal  to  30,058.  This  being  deducted 
from  the  velocity  of  Mercury,  leaves  80,682  for  the  velocity 
of  Venus.  Again,  1,582  is  multiplied  by  8,  and  the  product, 
12,656,  is  deducted  from  80,682,  leaving  68,026  for  the  velo- 
city of  Earth.  Proceeding  in  this  manner,  I  show  that  1,582 
comes  very  near  being  a  common  divisor  of  all  the^  dif- 
ferences of  the  orbital  velocities ;  so  near,  indeed,  as  to  force 
upon  us  the  belief  that  the  rings,  from  which  the  planets 
were  formed,  must  have  originally  had  a  common  difference 
of  their  orbital  velocities  of  very  nearly  1,582. 

In  a  parallel  column  I  have  placed  the  actual  velocities, 
taken  from  Dr.  Lardner's  hand  book  of  Astronomy,  to  show 
how  closely  they  agree  with  those  derived  from  theory. 


DIFFERENCE  OF  VELOCITIES. 


155 


TABLE  2. 
RELATIVE  ORBITAL  VELOCITIES. 


Theoretical 
Velocities 


Actual 
Velocities 
Miles  per  hour. 

1.— Velocity  of  Mercury, 110,740  110,725 

Subtract  1,582  x  19= 30,058 

2.— Velocity  of  Venus, 80,682  81,000 

Subtract  1,582  x  8= 12,656 

3.— Velocity  of  Earth, 68,026  68,090 

Subtract  1,582  x  8=..  .'.* 12,656 

4.— Velocity  of  Mars, 55,370  55,812 

Subtract  1,582  x  16= 25,312 

5.— Velocity  of  Jupiter, 30,058  30,203 

Subtract  1,582  x5= 7,910 

6.— Velocity  of  Saturn, 22,148  22,306 

Subtract  1,582  x  4= 6,328 

7.— Velocity  of  Uranus, 15,820  15,730 

Subtract  1,582  x  2= 3,164 

8.— Velocity  of  Neptune, 12,656  12,570 

TABLE  3 

RELATIVE  ORBITAL  VELOCITIES  OF  THE  SATELLITES 
OF  JUPITER. 

Theoretical  Actual 

Velocities.  Velocities. 

Miles  per  hour.        Milei  per  hour 

1  .—Velocity  of  lo, 38,772  38,772 

Subtract -. 7,000 

2.— Velocity  of  Europa, 31,772  30,716 

Subtract 7,000 

3._Velocity  of  Ganymede, 24,772  24,513 

Subtract 7,000 

4— Velocity  of  Callisto, 17,772  17,743 


156 


INTERVALS  AND 


TABLE  4. 

RELATIVE  ORBITAL  VELOCITIES  OF  THE  SATELLITES 
OF  SATURN. 

Theoretical  Actual 

Velocities.  Velocities. 

Miles  per  hour.        Miles  per  hour. 

1.  —Velocity  of  Mimas  ...............  34,986  34,986 

Subtract  714  x  5=  .............     3,570 

2.—  Velocity  of  Enceladus,  ...........  31,416  30,975 

Subtract  714  x  5=  .............     3,570 

3.__Velocity  of  Tethys,  ..............  27,846  27,776 

Subtract  714  x  5=  .............     3,570 

4.—  Velocity  of  Dione  ................  24,276  24,516 

Subtract  714  x  5=  ............     3,570 

5.__Velocity  of  Ehea,  ................  20,706  20,763 

Sabtract  714  x  10=  ......  ......     7,140 

6.—  Velocity  of  Titan,  ................  13,566  13,635 

Subtract  714x2=  .............     1,428 

7.__Velocity  of  Hyperion,  ............  12,138  12,215 

Subtract  714  x  6=  .............     4,284 

8._  Velocity  of  Japetus,  .......  .......     7,854  7,968 


TABLE  5. 
RELATIVE  VELOCITIES  OF  THE  SATELLITES 

URANUS. 


OF 


Theoretical 

Velocities. 

Miles  per  hour. 

1  —Velocity  of  the  1st,.  ....  ..........  12,500 

Subtract  600x2=  .............     1,200 

2._  Velocity  of  the  2nd,  .....  .........  11.300 

Subtract  600  x  2=  .............     1,200 

3  —Velocity  of  the  3rd,  ..............  10,100 

Subtract  600  x  2=  .............     1,200 

4._Velocity  of  the  4th,  ..............     8,900 

Subtract  600  ..................        600 

5._Velocity  of  the  5th, 

Subtract  600  ..........  . 


M'l 


8,300 
.  .......        600 

Velocity  of  the  6th,  ...  ...........     6,700 


Actual 
Velocities. 
s  per  hour. 

12,500 


11,200 

10,056 

8,828 

8,178 

7,636 


DIFFEKENCE  OF  VELOCITIES.  157 

I  was  led  to  discover  the  law  of  common  dif- 
ference of  planetary  velocities  in  the  following 
manner.  In  1857  I  printed  a  small  volume,  en- 
titled "Geonomy,  or  the  Creation  of  the  Conti- 
nents." In  writing  an  introduction  to  a  proposed 
new  edition  of  that  work,  I  attempted  to  make  a 
brief  statement,  and  a  plausible  defense,  of  the 
nebular  hypothesis  of  Laplace.  Being  thus  led  to 
examine  the  subject  critically,  I  convinced  myself 
that  the  hypothesis  is  erroneous.  I  therefore  en- 
deavored to  frame  a  more  reasonable  theory  in  its 
stead.  After  many  unsuccesful  experiments,  I  at 
length  succeeded  in  producing  the  theory,  that  the 
relative  magnitudes  and  densities  of  the  planets  are 
owing  to  the  rotation  of  the  nebula  in  a  resisting 
mediiim  ;  and  that  the  rings  were  separated  by  the 
antagonism  between  the  aggregating  tendency  and 
the  differences  of  the  orbital  velocities.  I  gave 
the  substance  of  this  theory  in  a  public  lecture,  in 
the  winter  of  1860,  before  the  members  of  the  Mer- 
cantile Library  Association,  in  Boston.  Shortly 
afterward  it  occurred  to  my  mind  that  if  this 
theory  is  true,  there  should  be  some  evidence  of  it 
found  in  the  actual  relative  velocities  of  the  known 
planets  and  satellites.  I  proceeded  at  once  to  con- 
struct tables  of  the  orbital  velocities,  and  was,  of 
course,  much  gratified  to  find  my  theory  confirmed 
in  such  a  remarkable  manner.  A  brief  and  imper- 
fect statement  of  this  discovery  was  published  at 
the  time  in  the  Scientific  American;  but  I  have 
not,  until  now,  been  able  to  present  the  subject  to 


158  INTERVALS  AND 

the  friends  of  science  in  a  systematic  form,  and  in 
connection  with  the  serial  relations  of  the  square 
roots  of  the  distances. 

DEFINITE  WIDTH    OF  THE    RINGS  OR  INTERVALS,    AND 

THE   LAWS    OF   THEIR   INCREASE    WITH 

DISTANCE    FROM   THE    SUN. 

I  have  said  that  the  rings  must  have  been  nar- 
rower the  nearer  they  were  to  the  sun.  The  reason 
is  that  it  requires  less  difference  of  the  distances  near 
the  sun  to  obtain  a  given  difference  (1,582)  ol  or- 
bital velocities.  This  will  be  seen  by  inspecting  the 
tables  which  represent  the  velocities  and  distances 
of  the  planets.  Th£  two  known  planets  that  differ 
most  in  orbital  velocities,  are  those  nearest  to  the 
sun  and  to  each  other,  namely,  Venus  and  Mercury; 
they  differ  in  their  velocities  nearly  30,000  miles 
per  hour,  yet  they  differ  in  distances  from  the  sun 
only  27  millions  of  miles.  The  two  known  planets 
that  differ  least  in  their  velocities,  are  those  most 
distant  from  the  sun  and  from  each  other,  namely, 
Neptune  and  Uranus ;  they  differ  in  distances  about 
1,000  millions  of  miles,  but  in  orbital  velocities  they 
differ  only  3,160  miles  per  hour,  Avhich  is  nine 
times  less  than  the  difference  between  Venus  and 
Mercury.  Since  the  nearer  bodies  are  to  the  sun 
the  less  difference  of  distances  was  required  to  ob- 
tain 1,582  difference  in  orbital  velocities,  it  neces- 
sarily follows  that  the  rings  must  have  been  wider 
the  further  they  were  from  the  sun. 


DIFFERENCE  OF  VELOCITIES. 


159 


FIGURE  5. 


COMMON  DIFFERENCE  IN 
ORBITAL  VELOCITIES. 


INTERVALS  OF  THE 
PLANETS. 


Miles  per  hour, 158 


/S64  millions  of  miles  from 
Hercules  to  Neptune. 


Miles  per  hour, 13821 


.  ..592  from  Neptune  to  Pluto. 


Miles  per  hour, 1582 

Miles  per  hour, 1582 1 

Miles  per  hour, 1582] 

Miles  per  hour, 1582 \\j    , 

Miles  per  hour, 15821171 


424  from  Pluto  to  Uranus. 

. .  313  from  Uranus  to  Apollo. 

.239  from  Apollo  to  Miner v  a 

.  185  from  Minerva  to  Vulcan. 
. . .  137  from  Vulcan  to  Saturn. 


This  figure  illustrates  at  a  glance  the  idea  that  while  the 
planets  may  have  a  common  difference  of  1582  miles  per 
hour  in  their  orbital  velocities,  they  have  an  increasing  dif- 
ference in  their  intervals  of  space  which  is  represented  by 
the  numbers  increasing  from  137  to  864  millions  of  miles. 


FORMATION  OF  PLANETS  FROM   RINGS 

The  nebula  nmst  have  become  divided  into  rings 
as  soon  as  the  sun  was  sufficiently  large  and  at- 
tractive to  establish  orbital  motions  in  the  sur- 


160  FORMATION    OF  ASTEROIDS. 

rounding  secondary  matter.  We  have  already 
seen  reason  to  conclude  that  the  resisting  medium 
caused  the  nebulous  matter  to  move  interiorly 
by  spiral  paths  toward  the  sun.  This  proceeding 
did  not  stop  when  the  rings  were  formed ;  on  the 
contrary,  it  was  probably  the  means  of  forming 
rings  into  planets.  A  large  mass  of  the  lighter 
portions  of  nebulous  matter,  situated  in  the  outer 
part  of  a  ring,  would  be  certain  to  move  spirally 
to  the  inner  edge ;  in  doing  this  it  would,  of  course, 
attract  to  itself  nearly  all  the  matter  of  the  ring, 
and  thus  form  a  globular  planet.  Two  masses, 
moving  in  the  same  orbit,  at  a  great  distance  from 
each  other,  would  never  come  together.  But  let 
one  of  the  masses  be  composed  of  much  lighter 
materials  than  the  other,  and  the  resisting  medium 
would  have  a  greater  effect  upon  it,  and  cause  it  to 
move  in  more  open  spirals,  and  thus  enable  it  to 
get  the  inside  tract  and  overtake  the  other ;  or,  at 
least,  come  so  near  to  it  as  to  attract  it  to  itself 
and  add  it  to  its  own  mass.  It  was  in  this  manner 
that  I  suppose  that  the  rings  were  transformed 
into  planets. 

FORMATION   OF   ASTEROIDS. 

We  can  readily  understand  how,  on  this  hy- 
pothesis, many  of  the  rings  were  prevented  from 
becoming  planets.  If  one  of  the  rings  were  very 
massive,  as  in  the  case  of  that  from  which  Jupiter 
was  formed,  its  attraction  would  prevent  the  next 


FORMATION   OF  ASTEROIDS.  161 

interior  ring  or  rings  from  undergoing  the  pro- 
cess already  described  as  necessary  to  the  for- 
mation of  a  planet :  that  is  to  say,  the  spiral  in- 
ward movement  of  the  light  matter  in  the  outer 
part  of  the  ring,  would  be  retarded,  or  entirely 
prevented,  by  the  attraction  of  the  massive  exterior 
ring.  This  retardation  would  be  the  most  likely 
to  take  place  in  the  interior  parts  of  the  system, 
where  the  rings  were  very  narrow.  We  know  that 
there  is  a  zone  of  asteroids,  about  one  hundred 
millions  of  miles  wide,  in  the  interval  between  the 
orbits  of  Jupiter  and  Mars.  According  to  the 
theory  here  advocated,  there  were  originally  fifteen 
rings  in  this  interval.  The  attraction  of  Jupiter 
has  rendered  them  all  asteroids  ;  that  is  to  say,  it 
has  prevented  the  inward  spiral  movement  which 
was  necessary  to  form  each  of  them  into  a  normal 
planet ;  and  thus  it  forced  them  to  become  aggre- 
gated into  a  great  number  of  planetettes,  which 
are  abnormally  small  and  near  each  other.  Is  it 
not  a  strong  presumptive  proof  of  the  truth  of 
this  theory  that  the  regular  planets  are  all  soli- 
tary ?  In  no  instance  do  we  find  two  moving  in 
the  same  orbit,  or  the  same  zone ;  nor  does  any 
planet  come  near  the  orbit  of  another.  If  the 
rings  had  been  broken  up  by  any  s\ich  accidents  as 
the  advocates  of  the  nebular  hypothesis  commonly 
imagine,  the  inevitable  consequence  would  have 
been  that,  in  some  instances,  several  planets,  or 
fragments,  would  have  the  same  or  nearly  the  same 
orbit. 

14* 


162  FORMATION   OF  ASTEROIDS. 

The  following  somewhat  poetical  account  of  the 
nebular  hypothesis  is  from  Nichol's  Cyclopedia 
of  the  Physical  Sciences  : 

Has  our  reader  walked  in  a  mood  of  tranquil  thought 
along  the  side  of  a  quiet  river,  whose  waving  banks  re- 
flect a  thousand  currents,  by  the  intermingling  of  which 
numerous',  dimples  or  whirlpools  are  produced — their  easy 
course  only  marking  the  river's  stillness  ?  Has  he  followed 
these  dimples  as  they  pursue  each  other  in  gambol,  and 
watched  the  phenomenon  of  the  near  approach  of  two  or 
three?  Then  may  he  have  witnessed  the  secret  of  the 
mystery  of  the  double  and  triple  stars !  When  one  of  these 
dimples  approaches  the  vortex  of  another,  the  two  begin 
to  revolve  around  eacJi  other ;  and  in  fact  they  must,  on  ap- 
proximation, act  upon  each  other  as  TWO  WHEELS  ;  so  that 
a  revolution  of  each  around  the  other  must  immediately 
supervene,  and  increase  in  rapidity,  until  by  external  pressure 
they  are  forced  into  one.  If  such  single  neighboring  nuclei 
were  rotating,  it  would  be  precisely  a  case  of  two  contiguous 
whirlpools ;  and  how  could  revolutionary  motion  be  prevented  ? 
Two  such  masses  in  approximate  contact  must  originate  such 
a  motion  :  as  the  principle  of  gravity  draws  the  nuclei  nearer 
each  other,  the  velocity  of  revolution  must  manifestly  in- 
crease ;  and  the  two  bodies  would  constitute  themselves  into 
a  stable  system  when  the  rapidity  of  revolution  siifficed  to 
counterbalance  their  mutual  attraction. 

It  is  known  to  mechanics,  that  a  grindstone  may  be  made 
to  revolve  with  a  rapidity  sufficient  to  cause  splinters  to  fly 
from  its  rim,  and  even  the  whole  rim  to  break  in  pieces- 
indicating  that  the  centrifugal  force  of  the  rim  with  that 
velocity,  more  than  counterbalances  the  mutual  attraction  or 
cohesion  of  the  particles  of  the  stone.  Now  if  the  rim,  in- 
stead of  being  formed  of  brittle  stone,  had  consisted  of 
an  elastic  belt,  say  of  caoutchouc,  what  would  result  in  such 
a  case  ?  Clearly  a  separation  of  the  rim  from  the  mass  of  the 


FORMATION   OF  ASTEROIDS.  163 

rotating  body ;  it  would  expand  somewhat,  just  as  the  orbit 
of  a  planet  in  a  similar  position  ;  and,  if  other  circumstances 
permitted,  it  would  revolve  around  the  stone  as  a  separate 
ring  at  a  distance  where  the  balance  or  equilibrium  of  the 
forces  would  be  restored. 

First,  As  the  separation  of  the  rings  resulted  from  the 
centrifugal  tendency  of  the  particles  composing  them,  and 
as  this  centrifugal  tendency  must  always  be  greatest  at  the 
equatorial  region  of  the  rotatory  mass,  the  rings  must  all  lie 
nearly  in  tJie  plane  of  that  equator.  Therefore,  we  are  en- 
titled to  conclude,  that  into  whatever  forms  or  bodies  these 
rings  may  ultimately  be  resolved  these  bodies  must  all  lie 
in  nearly  one  plane — the  plane,  viz.,  of  the  equator  of  the 
central  globe. 

Secondly,  The  rings  being  circular,  or,  what  is  the  same 
thing,  the  motion  of  each  particle  composing  them  being 
circular,  the  orbits  or  paths  of  whatever  bodies  are  ultimate- 
ly formed  out  of  them,  must  also  be  nearly  circular. 

Thirdly,  As  the  rings  must  continue  to  move  as  the  nebula 
was  moving  when  they  were  abandoned,  the  planets  into 
which  they  may  be  resolved  must  all  move  in  the  same  di- 
rection— that  viz.,  of  the  rotation  of  the  central  orb  or  sun.  Our 
subject  is  thus  rapidly  simplifying.  We  have  already — 
even  at  this  stage — deduced  from  this  memorable  hypothesis 
the  necessity  of  the  principal  three  of  those  fundamental 
arrangements  which  gravity  could  not  explain.  But  let  us 
proceed. 

Eesuming  our  direct  investigation,  we  inquire  now  what 
forms  would  such  rings  most  probably  ultimately  assume  ? 
There  are  three  possible  forms  : — 1.  The  mass,  if  tolerably 
equable  in  its  original  constitution,  and  undisturbed  from 
without,  might  settle  down  into  a  rotating  RING  ;  but  the 
chances  against  such  a  result  are  so  numerous,  that  we 
would  expect  the  phenomenon  to  be  very  rare  in  the  Uni- 
verse. 2.  If  the  mass  broke  up  or  separated  while  condens- 
ing— as  its  own  internal  irregularities  would,  in  all  probabi- 


164  FORMATION   OF  ASTEROIDS. 

lity,  constrain  it  to  do — it  might  divide  into  a  number  of  por- 
tions so  equal  in  attractive  energy,  that  none  of  them  would 
have  any  tendency  to  coalesce  with,  or  fall  into  the  others  ; 
so  that  the  ring  would  ultimately  be  transformed  into  a  num- 
ber of  distinct  small  solid  bodies,  revolving  around  the  central 
mass  at  nearly  the  same  distance  from  it.  3.  Even  this 
second  supposition,  however,  is  not  a  very  probable  one,  in- 
asmuch as  its  essential  condition — the  separation  of  the 
.mass  of  the  ring  into  equally  balanced  nuclei — could,  in 
the  nature  of  tilings,  occur  but  rarely.  By  far  the  likeliest 
result  is  the  division  of  the  ring  into  nuclei  of  unequal 
power — the  larger  of  which  would,  by  its  superior  attrac- 
tion, assume  the  others  into  its  mass — the  whole  solidifying 
into  one  considerable  globe. 

According  to  our  theory,  asteroids  would  be  cer- 
tain to  be  formed  in  the  interior  parts  of  the  sys- 
tem where  the  rings  were  narrow,  and  where  an 
exterior  ring  or  planet  was  very  massive.  If  we 
examine  the  table,  we  shall  see  that  fifteen  rings 
have  been  rendered  asteroidal  by  the  powerful  at- 
traction of  Jupiter  exterior  to  them.  If  our 
reasoning  may  be  relied  upon,  there  are  asteroids 
within  fifty  millions  of  miles  of  Jupiter's  orbit, 
though  none  have  yet  been  found  within  two  hun- 
dred millions  ;  there  are  also  asteroids  within  ten 
millions  of  miles  of  the  orbit  of  Mars,  though 
none  have  been  seen  within  fifty  millions  of  miles. 
The  same  influence  of  Jupiter  which  prevented  the 
known  asteroids  from  becoming  planets,  came  very 
near  preventing  the  creation  of  Mars.  It  has  evi- 
dently prevented  a  large  portion  of  the  matter, 
that  normally  belonged  to  him,  from  reaching  him. 


FORMATION    OF  ASTEROIDS.  165 

It  has  thus  rendered  him  abnormally  small  and 
dense,  besides  depriving  him  of  a  moon,  and  nearly 
preventing  him  from  inheriting  even  an  atmosphere. 
It  is  difficult,  now,  to  determine  how  much  the  at- 
traction of  Jupiter  influenced  the  formation  of  the 
earth ;  but,  in  conjunction  with  Mars,  our  theory 
indicates  that  it  has  rendered  seven  rings  asteroidal 
between  the  orbits  of  Mars  and  of  our  planet.  It 
also  indicates  that  one  of  the  primitive  rings  was 
within  four  millions  of  miles  of  the  earth.  Does 
not  this  agree  with  the  observations  which  have 
been  made  in  relation  to  the  zodiacal  light  ?  Be- 
tween the  earth  and  Venus  seven  rings  existed,  one 
of  which  was  within  three  and  a  half  millions  of 
miles  of  the  earth's  orbit.  The  large  mass  and  the 
great  density  of  Venus  probably  prevented  that 
planet  from  being  rendered  asteroidal  by  the  at- 
traction of  the  earth.  The  formation  of  a  moon  was 
actually  prevented,  in  all  probability,  by  the 
earth's  influence,  together  with  that  of  the  nearest 
rings.  Between  Venus  and  Mercury  are  eighteen 
rings :  nor  is  this  surprising  when  we  consider  that 
the  rings  in  this  interval  were  only  from  one  to 
three  millions  of  miles  wide ;  and  that  Venus,  a 
large  exterior  body,  aided  by  the  earth,  was  op- 
posed to  their  concentration.  Of  course,  Mercury, 
under  these  circumstances,  could  not  have  a  satel- 
lite. Between  Mercury  and  the  sun  the  rings  be- 
came so  rapidly  narrowed,  and  so  numerous,  that 
normal  planets  were  out  of  the  question..  We  can 
now  understand  the  reason  of  the  greater  space  be- 


166  FOKMATION   OF  ASTEROIDS. 

tween  the  sun  and  Mercury  than  between  Mercury 
and  Venus,  or  between  Venus  and  the  earth.  The 
same  fact  exists  in  Jupiter's  system  of  satellites, 
and  also  in  that  of  Saturn :  the  space  between  the 
primary  and  the  nearest  secondary  is  greater  than 
between  the  first  and  second  satellites.  Our  theory 
indicates  that  there  were  four  primitive  rings  be- 
tween the  orbits  of  Jupiter  and  Saturn,  which 
must  have  all  been  rendered  asteroidal.  Between 
Uranus  and  Saturn  there  were  three  rings,  all  of 
which  may  now  exist  in  the  form  of  planets,  though 
as  yet  they  are  undiscovered.  The  inmience  of 
Saturn  may  possibly  have  prevented  the  ring  near- 
est to  his  orbit  from  forming  a  planet ;  but  I  can- 
not doubt  that  the  other  two  (denominated  Apollo 
and  Minerva  in  the  tables)  actually  exist,  and  that 
they  will  yet  be  discovered  in  the  orbits  indicated 
in  the  tables.  Between  Uranus  and  Neptune  there 
is  probably  another  planet,  Pluto,  whose  velocity, 
14,238  miles  per  hour,  is  a  mean  between  that  of 
Neptune,  12,570,  and  that  of  Uranus,  15,730  miles 
per  hour.  The  distance  of  Pluto  from  the  sun  is 
2,230  millions  of  miles.  Being  600  millions  from 
Neptune,  and  400  from  Uranus,  it  could  not  have 
been  made  asteroidal  by  their  influences.  If,  there- 
fore, a  ring  ever  did  exist  in  this  interval,  a  planet 
is  moving  in  it  now. 


BODE'S  LAW.  167 


BODE'S  LAW  OP  THE  PLANETABY  DISTANCES. 

Kepler  was  the  first  astronomer  who  noticed  the 
fact  that  the  intervals  between  the  planets  become 
greater  as  we  proceed  outward  from  the  centre. 
He  also  noticed  that  the  interval  between  Jupiter 
and  Mars,  and  also  that  between  Venus  and  Mer- 
cury, was  too  great  for  the  rule.  He  therefore 
suggested,  or  rather  predicted,  with  the  bold  enthu- 
siasm that  characterized  him,  that  a  new  planet 
would  be  discovered  in  each  of  those  intervals. 

Prof.  Bode,  of  Berlin,  has  expressed  the  idea  of 
the  increasing  intervals,  by  a  scheme  of  numbers, 
which  is  known  as  "  Hade's  Law."  It  is  as  follows : 

Mer.    Ven.    Earth.    Mars.    Ast.    Jup.    Sat.    Uran.    Kept. 
444          444444 
0        3        6        12      24      48      96     192     384 


4        7      10        16      28      52    100     196     388 
3-9     7-3   10       15-2   27-4  52      95-4  192     300 

The  first  line  of  figures  is  a  repetition  of  4 ;  the 
second  line  begins  with  0,  then  3,  next  twice  3, 
then  four  times  3,  and  so  on.  The  third  line  is  ob- 
tained by  adding  the  figures  of  the  two  upper  lines 
together.  The  fourth,  or  last  line,  represents  the 
actual  distances  of  the  planets  from  the  sun. 

Although  Prof.  Bode  could  give  no  reason  for  the 
law  or  relation  of  the  distances,  which  he  and  others 
had  observed,  we  can  now,  by  the  light  of  the 
principles  which  have  been  explained  in  this  essay, 
perceive  that  Bode's  law  has  its  foundation  in  na- 


168  BODE'S  LAW. 

ture.  The  primitive  rings,  or  (which  is  the  same 
thing)  the  planetary  intervals,  actually  did  in- 
crease in  width  by  a  regular  law,  though  it  was 
not  identical  with  that  of  Bode.  The  real  cause  of 
the  increase  in  the  width  of  the  rings  with  dis- 
tance from  the  primary,  was  the  rate  of  the  de- 
crease of  the  velocities.  This  rendered  a  greater 
difference  of  distance  necessary  to  produce  a  ring 
in  the  oiiter  part  of  the  system  than  in  the  interior. 
Had  the  decrease  of  the  velocities  been  uniform, 
that  is,  so  much  for  each  mile,  the  rings  would  have 
been  of  a  uniform  width.  The  increase  in  the 
width  of  the  rings,  therefore,  ^ca3  in  the  same  ratio 
as  the  departure  of  the  decrease  of  the  velocities 
from  uniformity. 

Imperfect  as  Bode's  law  is,  astronomers  have 
hitherto  possessed  no  other  means  by  which  to 
judge,  or  even  to  conjecture,  concerning  the  proba- 
ble distances  of  undiscovered  planets.  When  as- 
tronomers found  that  the  perturbations  of  Uranus 
indicated  the  existence  of  an  unknown  planet,  be- 
yond the  orbit  of  Uranus,  they  had  no  means 
whatever  of  guessing  its  distance,  except  the  mere 
fact  that  from  the  Earth  to  Uranus  the  intervals  are 
about  doubled.  Leverrier  and  Adams,  therefore, 
predicted  that  Neptune  would  be  found  about 
eight  hundred  millions  of  miles  farther  from  the 
sun  than  he  actually  is.  If  the  law  of  common 
difference  of  velocities  had  then  been  known,  this 
mistake  would  not  have  been  committed.  It  is  a 
curious  fact  that  our  theory  indicates  that  Hercules, 


BODE'S  LAW.  169 

the  next  planet  (in  the  table)  beyond  the  orbit  of 
Neptune,  is  very  nearly  the  same  distance  from  the 
sun  as  Leverrier  and  Adams  supposed  Neptune 
to  be.  May  it  not  be  that  the  calculations  of  those 
two  eminent  astronomers  were  more  correct  than 
has  been  supposed,  and  that  Hercules,  and  not 
Neptune  was  the  planet  for  \vhich  they  were  look- 
ing ?  (See  the  tables.)  Hansen,  one  of  the  ablest 
astronomers  in  Europe,  declared,  before  Neptune 
was  discovered,  that  the  perturbations  of  Uranus 
indicated  two  disturbing  unknown  planets  :  our 
theory  and  tables  indicate  more  than  two.  Some 
very  distinguished  mathematicians  have  expressed 
doubts  whether  the  calculations  of  Leverrier  really 
indicated  the  existence  of  Neptune  ;  and  are  inclined 
to  look  upon  its  discovery  by  Dr.  Galle  as  a  for- 
tunate accident.  If  this  is  true,  it  follows  that  the 
disturber  or  disturbers  of  Uranus,  one  or  more,  are 
yet  to  be  found.  Let  us  hope  that  the  serial  rela- 
tions herein  explained  may  contribute  to  their 
discovery. 
15 


SECTION  IY. 

SERIAL  RELATIONS  OF  THE  PLANETS. 

THE  velocity  of  Mercury,  the  planet  nearest  to 
the  sun,  is,  (according  to  Lardner,)  110,725 
miles  per  hour,  which  is,  of  course,  greater  than 
the  velocity  of  any  other  planet.  If  a  series  of 
rings  originally  existed  that  differed  1,582  miles 
per  hour  in  their  orbital  velocities,  it  follows  that 
each  successive  ring  beyond  Mercury  had  an  orbi- 
tal velocity  of  1,582  less  than  its  next  interior  ring. 
If  we  call  the  orbital  velocity  of  Mercury  110,74'0 
miles  per  hour,  and  divide  that  number  by  1,582, 
we  obtain  a  quotient  of  70  without  any  remainder. 
There  could  not,  therefore,  have  been  more  than  70 
rings,  beyond  and  including  Mercury ;  for  the  rea- 
son that  beyond  the  70th  a  difference  of  1,582 
could  not  be  obtained.  The  outermost  possible  ring 
had  an  orbital  velocity  of  just  1,582  miles  per  hour; 
the  second  ring  just  twice  1,582;  the  third  thrice 
1,582,  and  so  on  to  Mercury,  which  must  have  a 
velocity  of  just  70  times  1,582 — equal  tollO  ,740. 
It  is  upon  this  principle  that  what  I  call  the  serial 
relations,  are  founded. 

In  constructing  the  following  tables,  I  have 
adopted  1,582  miles  per  hour  as  the  common  differ 
ence  of  orbital  velocities,  because  I  thus  avoid  the 


OF  THE   PLANETS. 


171 


necessity  of  using  fractions  ;  though,  perhaps,,  this 
number  is  not  as  near  the  truth  as  1580.  For  the 
same  reason  I  have  assumed  that  110,740  is  the 
orbital  velocity  of  Mercury,  instead  of  110,725, 
which  is  probably  more  correct.  These  slight 
variations  are,  however,  unessential. 

EXPLANATION  OF  TABLE  6. 

The  first  or  left  hand  column  of  figures  is  a  repetition  of 
1,582,  the  common  difference.  The  second  column  contains 
a  series  of  numbers  from  1  to  70,  which  I  denominate  the 
serial  numbers,  because  they  represent  the  series  of  rings; 
the  most  distant  possible  ring,  or  planet,  (Chaos)  being  1. 
The  third  column  contains  the  orbital  velocities  of  the  rings, 
or  planets,  obtained  by  multiplying  1582  successively  by  the 
several  serial  numbers.  The  fourth  column  contains  the  ac- 
tual velocities,  so  placed  that  they  can  readily  be  compared 
with  the  theoretical  numbers  in  the  third  column. 

Common 

Difference. 

Miles  per  hour, 

Chaos 1,582 

Nox 1,582 

Cerberus 1,582 

Bacchus 1,582 

Janus 1,582 

Atlas 1,582 

Hercules 1,582 

Neptune 1,582 

Pluto 1,582 

Uranus 1,582 

Apollo 1,582 

Minerva 1,582 

Vulcan 1,582 

Saturn 1,582 

Jupiter 1,582 

Mars 1,582 

Earth 1,582 

Venus 1,582 

Mercury 1,582 


Serial 

Theoretical 

Actual  known 

Numbers. 

Velocities. 
Miles  per  hour. 

Velocities. 

Miles  per  hour. 

X        1          = 

1,582 

2 

3,164 

3 

4,746 

4       " 

6,328 

5 

7,910 

6       " 

9,492 

7       " 

11,074 

8 

12,656 

12,570 

9 

14,238 

10 

15,820 

15,730 

11 

17,402 

12 

18,984 

13 

20,566 

14       " 

22,148 

22,306 

19       " 

30.058 

30,203 

35       " 

55,370 

55,812 

43       " 

68,026 

68,890 

51 

80,682 

81,000 

70       " 

110,740 

110,725 

172  SEEIAL  RELATIONS 

In  table  6  it  will  be  noticed  that  I  have  made 
the  serial  number  of  Saturn  14,  and  that  of  Jupi- 
ter 1 9,  thus  omitting  4  serial  numbers  ;  the  reason 
is  that  theory  indicates  that  there  were  4  rings  of 
asteroids  between  the  orbits  of  Saturn  and  Jupiter ; 
though  in  this  table  I  have  omitted  them  to  save 
space.  So  also  the  serial  number  of  Jupiter  is 
19,  and  that  of  the  next  planet,  Mars,  is  35,  because 
theory  indicates  that  there  were  15  rings  between 
the  two  orbits.  There  were  also  7  rings  between 
Mars  (35)  and  earth  (43) ;  7  rings  between  earth 
(43)  and  Venus,  (51);  and  18  rings  between  Ve- 
nus (51)  and  Mercury,  (70). 

I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  give  names  to  the 
seven  hypothetical  planets  beyond  the  orbit  of 
Neptune,  and  to  the  four  between  the  orbits  of 
Neptune  and  Saturn,  because  it  will  render  a  refer- 
ence to  them  more  convenient. 

SERIAL  RELATIONS  OF  THE  SQUARE  ROOTS  OF  THE 

MEAN   DISTANCES    OF   THE   PLANETS 

FROM   THE    SUN. 

It  is  well  known  to  astronomers  that  one  of  the 
consequences  of  the  laws  discovered  by  Kepler 
and  Newton  is,  that  the  mean  orbital  velocities  of 
theplanets  are,  one  to  another,  inversely  proportional 
to  the  square  roots  of  their  mean  distances  from  the- 
sun.  This  being  the  case,  it  follows,  that  if  the 
orbital  velocities  of  invisible  planets  or  rings  are 
ascertained  by  our  theory  of  common  difference  of 


OP  THE   PLANETS.  173 

velocities,  their  mean  distances  can  readily  be  as- 
certained by  the  rules  of  simple  proportion.  The 
following  are  illustrations  of  the  application  of  this 
rule:  The  orbital  velocity  of  the  planet  Mer- 
cury, in  whole  numbers  of  thoiisands  of  miles  is 
110.  The  orbital  velocity  of  Mars  is  half  as  much. 
Upon  examining  the  square  roots  of  the  the  dis- 
tances of  these  two  planets,  we  find  that  the  same 
proportion  (though  inverse)  exists  between  them ; 
that  of  Mat's  being  12  and  that  of  Mercury  6, 
which  is  half  as  much ;  in  other  words,  as  110  is  to 
55  so  is  12  to  6.  Again,  the  velocity  of  Uranus  is 
is  15,800  miles  per  hour,  that  of  Mercury  is  110,725, 
which  is  7  times  more ;  so  also  the  square  root  of 
the  distance  of  Mercury  is  6  and  that  of  Uranus 
42,  which  is  7  times  more.  In  the  same  wray  the 
mean  velocities  of  any  two  planets  in  the  series, 
may  be  compared  with  the  square  roots  of  the 
distances  of  the  same  two  planets,  and  found  to 
be  proportional. 

This  law  of  inverse  proportion  is  of  great  prac- 
tical value,  in  connection  with  our  new  theory ;  for, 
when  the  law  of  common  difference  of  velocities 
indicates  the  existence  of  an  undiscovered  planet, 
the  law  of  proportion  enables  us  to  determine  its 
distance  from  the  sun.  For  instance,  in  the  space 
between  Neptune  and  Uranus,  the  law  of  common 
difference  of  velocities  indicates  a  planet,  which, 
in  the  table,  I  have  named  Pluto,  the  velocity  of 
which  is  14,238  miles  per  hour.  Now,  as  the  cal- 
culated velocity  of  Pluto  is  to  the  known  velocity 


1 74  SERIAL  RELATIONS 

of  Mercury,  so  is  the  square  root  of  the  known 
distance  of  Mercury  to  the  answer  required ;  that 
is,  to  the  unknown  square  root  of  the  distance  of 
Pluto. 

One  important  result  of  this  perfect  proportion 
of  the  square  roots  to  the  orbital  velocities,  is  that 
some  of  the  same  serial  relations  exist  between  the 
square  roots  that  are  found  between  the  velocities. 
This  is  illustrated  by  the  following  table : 

EXPLANATION   OF  TABLE  7. 

The  first,  or  left  hand  column  of  figures  in  table  7  is  a 
repetition  of '425,  which  is  the  square  root  of  the  mean  dis- 
tance of  Chaos,  the  most  distant  possible  planet  in  the  series. 
This  425  is  obtained  by  multiplying  6,071,  the  square  root  of 
36,857,000,  (the  mean  distance  of  Mercury,)  by  its  serial 
number,  70.  By  successively  dividing  425  by  the  serial 
numbers  in  the  second  column,  we  obtain  the  square  roots 
of  the  distances  of  all  the  planets  in  the  series,  as  they  are 
represented  in  the  third  column.  The  fourth  column  con- 
tains the  mean  distances  the  planets  from  the  sun,  obtained 
by  squaring  the  theoretical  square  roots  in  the  third  column. 
The  fifth  column  contains  the  actual  mean  distances,  so 
placed  as  to  admit  of  easy  comparison : 


OF  THE   PLACETS. 


TABLE  7. 


Sq.  Root 

Serial  No's 

Square  R't 

Distances 

Actual 

of  the  distance 

used  as 

of  the 

in  millions 

distances  in 

of  Chaos. 

Divisors. 

Distances. 

of  miles. 

mill,  of  milei. 

Chaos,  ,  .  . 

425    *- 

1       = 

425. 

180,625 

Nox 

425     " 

2     " 

212.5 

45,156 

Cerberus 

425     " 

3     " 

141.67 

20,069 

Bacchus... 

...425     " 

4     " 

106.25 

11,289 

Janus.  .  .  . 

,       425     " 

5     " 

85. 

7,225 

Atlas. 

425     " 

6     " 

70.83 

5,018 

Hercules  , 

425     " 

7     " 

60.71 

3,686 

Neptune.  . 

....  425     " 

8     " 

53.125 

2,822 

2,854 

Pluto 

425     " 

9     " 

47.22 

2,230 

Uranus 

425 

10      ' 

42.5 

1,806 

1,822 

Apollo  , 

425 

11      ' 

38.64 

1,493 

Minerva 

,    ,  ,   425 

12      ' 

35.41 

1,254 

Vulcan,  ,  , 

425 

13      ' 

32.69 

1,069 

Saturn   ,  , 

425 

14      ' 

30.36 

922 

906 

4  rings  in  this  interval. 

Jupiter   ,  . 

425     " 

19     " 

22.37 

500 

494 

15  rings  in  this  interval. 

Mars 

....425     " 

35     " 

12.14 

147 

145 

7  rings  in  this  interval. 

Earth 

425     « 

43     " 

9.88 

98 

95 

7  rings  in  this  interval. 

Venus.  .  .  . 

...    425     " 

51     " 

8.33 

69 

69 

18  rings  in  this  interval. 

Mercury 

425     " 

70     " 

6.071 

36,857 

36,770 

176  SERIAL  RELATIONS 


EXPLANATION  OF  TABLES  8  AND  9. 

The  law  of  proportion,  and  the  serial  relations,  extend 
not  only  to  the  velocities  and  the  square  roots  of  the  dis- 
tances, but  also  to  the  intervals  or  differences  between  the 
square  roots,  and  the  differences  between  the  velocities. 
This  is  illustrated  in  the  two  following  tables,  (8  and  9), 
which  must  be  studied  together  as  if  they  were  one. 

Table  8  gives  the  velocities  of  the  planets,  and  their  dif- 
ferences of  velocities  in  serial  order  from  Chaos  to  Saturn. 
The  table  might  have  been  extended  to  Mercury,  but  the 
principle  is  sufficiently  illustrated  without  occupying  more 
space.  It  will  be  seen  that  if  we  multiply  the  difference 
(1,583)  between  any  two  consecutive  planets'  velocities,  by 
the  greater  serial  number  of  the  two,  the  product  will  be 
the  greater  velocity  of  the  two.  The  reason  is  that  the 
velocities  and  their  differences  are  in  a  definite  ratio  to  each 
other.  1,582  is  one-half  the  velocity  of  Nox,  and  the  same 
number  (1,582)  is  one  third  the  velocity  of  Cerberus,  and  one- 
fourth  that  of  Bacchus,  and  so  on  through  the  whole  series. 
Now,  when  we  examine  the  corresponding  series  of  square 
roots  of  the  distances  in  table  9,  we  find  that  the  same  ratio 
exists  there  :  that  is  to  say,  if  we  multiply  the  difference  be- 
tween any  two  consecutive  square  roots  by  the  greater  serial 
number  of  the  two,  the  product  will  be  the  greater  square 
root  of  the  distance  of  the  two.  The  reason  is  as  follows  : 
the  velocities  and  their  differences,  having  a  certain  regular 
ratio  to  each  other,  the  square  roots  of  the  distances  and 
their  differences  (being  in  proportion  to  the  velocities)  have 
the  same  ratio  to  each  other.  Once  more  I  remark  that  I 
wish  the  critical  reader  to  bear  in  mind,  that  the  design  of 
these  tables  is,  not  to  show  how  near  the  theoretical  veloci- 
ties or  square  roots  agree  with  the  Victual,  but  to  exhibit  the 
remarkable  relations  which  exist  between  the  velocities  and 
the  square  roots,  when  arranged  in  what  I  conceive  to  be 
their  true  serial  order.  I  also  wish  to  furnish  the  most  de- 


OF  THE   PLANETS. 


177 


cisive  proofs  that  the  relations  which  I  have  pointed  out  are 
not  mere  coincidences,  but  are  founded  upon  a  law  hereto- 
fore unknown. 


TABLE  8. 


Velocities  and 


Chaos 1,582 

Difference..  1,582 
Nox 3,164 

Difference..  1,582 
Cerberus 4,746 

Difference  . .  1,582 
Bacchus 6,328 

Difference..  1,582 
Janus 7,910 

Difference  .  .  1,582 
Atlas 9,492 

Difference  .  .  1,582 
Hercules 11,074 

Difference  . .  1,582 
Neptune 12,656 

Difference  .  .  1,582 
Pluto .....14,238 

Difference  . .  1,582 
Uranus 15,820 

Difference  . ;  1,582 
Apollo 17,402 

Difference  . .  1,582 
Minerva 18,984 

Difference  . .  1,582 
Vulcan 20,566 

Difference..  1,582 
Saturn 22,143 

16 


Serial 

lumbers 

1    = 

2     " 

Theoretical    Known  actual 
Velocities.        Velocities. 
Miles  p.  hour.  Miles  p.  hour. 

1,582 
3,164 

3     " 

4,746 

4     " 

6,328 

5     " 

7,910 

6     " 

9,492 

7     " 

11,074 

8     " 

12,656 

12,570 

9     " 

14,238 

10     " 

15,820 

15,730 

11     " 

17,402 

12     " 

18,984 

13     " 

20,566 

14     " 

22,148 

22,306 

178 


SERIAL  RELATIONS 


TABLE  9. 


Serial 
Numbers. 


Square  Roots. 

Chaos,  square  root 435.00 

Difference  or  interval..  212.05       x       2       =     425.00 
Nox,  square  root 212.05 

Interval 70.83       "       3       "      212.05 

Cerberus,  square  root :  141.67 

Interval 35.42       "-4       "      141.67 

Bacclius,  square  root 106.25 

Interval 21.25       "       5       "      106.25 

Janus,  square  root 85.00 

Interval 14.17       "       6       "       85.00 

Atlas,  square  root 70.83 

Interval 10.12       "       7       "       70.83 

Hercules,  square  root 60.71 

Interval 7.585     "       8       "       60.71 

Neptune,  square  root 53.125 

Interval 5.902     "       9       "       53.125 

Pluto,  square  root 47.22 

Interval 4.72       "     10       "       47.22 

Uranus,   square  root. 42.05 

Interval 3.86       "     11       "       42.05 

Apollo,  square  root 38.64 

Interval . .     3.22       "     12       "       38.64 

Minerva,  square  root 35.41 

Interval 2.72       "      13       "       35.41 

Vulcan,  square  root 32.69 

Interval 2.33       "      14       "       32.69 

Saturn,  square  root 30.36 

If  any  doubts  still  linger  in  the  mind  of  the 
reader  that  this  new  theory  is  founded  in  nature, 
I  think  they  must  be  entii'ely  removed  when  he 
finds  that  the  subordinate  systems  of  Jupiter,  Sa- 
turn and  Uranus  give  their  united  testimony  in  its 
favor.  Beyond  all  question,  the  same  universal 
laws  of  the  Creator  by  which  the  solar  system  was 
formed  presided  over  the  formation  of  every  other 
planetary  system  in  the  boundless  regions  of  space. 


OF  THE  PLANETS.  179 

JUPITER'S  SYSTEM. 

EXPLANATION  OF  TABLES  10  AND  11. 

Proceeding  in  the  same  manner  as  we  have  with  the 
solar  system,  we  take  the  velocity  of  lo,  the  satellite  nearest 
to  Jupiter,  which  is  38,784  miles  per  hour,  and  divide  it  by 
what  we  suppose  to  be  the  common  difference  of  the  primi- 
tive orbital  velocities,  which  is  808  miles  per  hour.  We  find 
the  resulting  quotient  to  be  48.  We,  therefore,  infer  that 
the  most  distant  possible  satellite  or  ring  of  this  series  has 
an  orbital  velocity  of  808  miles  per  hour ;  and  that  the  serial 
number  of  lo  is  48,  that  of  Europa  38,  that  of  Ganymede 
is  30,  and  of  Callisto  22.  The  first  or  left-hand  column  of 
figure^in  table  10  contains  the  common  difference,  808,  re- 
peated. The  second  column  contains  the  serial  numbers  by 
which  the  808  is  successively  multiplied.  The  third  column 
contains  the  resulting  theoretical  velocities  ;  and  the  fourth 
column  contains  the  actual  velocities. 

TABLE  10. 

Theoretical  Actual 

Velocities  Velocities 

Difference.          Numbers.      Miles  p  hoijr-    Miles  p  ho^r_ 

Callisto 808  x  22  =  17,776  17,743 

Ganymede 808  "  30  "  24,240  24,519 

Europa 808  "  38  "»  30,704  '30,716 

lo 808  "  48  "  38,784  38,772 

SERIAL   RELATIONS    OF   THE    SQUARE    ROOTS    OF   THE 

MEAN   DISTANCES    OF   THE    SATELLITES    OF 

JUPITER. 

The  mean  distance  of  lo,  the  nearest  satellite  to 
Jupiter,  is  269,000  miles;  the  square  root  of  this 
number  is  518.651,  which,  if  multiplied  by  the 
serial  number  (48),  gives  a  product  of  24,895.3,  the 
square  root  of  the  most  distant  possible  satellite  of 


180  SERIAL  RELATIONS 

the  series.  If  we  divide  24,853  by  the  serial  num- 
ber of  any  satellite  in  the  series,  we  obtain  the 
square  root  of  the  mean  distance  of  that  satellite. 

TABLE  11. 

Most  distant          c_  •  ,  Square  Roots          Squares  or  .    .    ,, 

Square  Root       N^"f  *     of  Theoretical       rgg* 

of  the  Series.      »•«••••  Distances.  Distances. 

Callisto.... 24,895.3  -i-  22  =  1,131.6045  1,280,529  1,152,000 

Ganymede  24,895.3    "    30   "  829.843       688,639      680,000 

Europa  ...24,895.3   "   38."  652.771       425,100     426,500 

lo 24,895.3   "   48   "  518.651       269,000     269,000 

The  first,  or  left-hand  column  in  table  11  contains  24,895.3 
repeated.  This  number  was  obtained  by  multiplying  518.651, 
the  square  root  of  the  distance  of  lo,  the  nearest  of  Jupiter's 
satellites,  by  its  serial  number,  48.  The  second  colun^n  con- 
tains the  serial  numbers,  by  which  24,895.3  is  successively 
divided  to  produce  the  square  roots  in  the  third  column  ;  the 
squares  of  which  are  the  theoretical  mean  distances  in  the 
fourth  column.  The  fifth  column  contains  the  actual  mean 
distances. 

SERIAL  RELATIONS  OP  THE  ORBITAL  VELOCITIES  OF 
SATURN'S  SATELLITES. 

EXPLANATION  OF  TABLE  12. 

Let  us  now  examine  the  system  of  Saturn's  satellites,  and 
apply  the  foregoing  principles  to  them.  The  orbital  velocity 
of  Mimas,  the  satellite  nearest  to  Saturn,  is  34,986  miles  per 
hour.  This  number  divided  by  714,  the  common  difference, 
gives  a  quotient  of  49,  which  is  therefore  assumed  as  the 
serial  number  of  Mimas.  The  most  distant  possible  satellite 
of  this  series  has  a  theoretical  velocity  of  714  miles  per  hour, 
which  is  the  same  as  the  common  difference.  Japetus,  the 
most  distant  known  satellite  of  Saturn,  has  11  for  his  serial 
number,  because  his  velocity  is  11  times  714  miles  per  hour 
The  following  table  (12)  will  now  be  understood. 


OF  THE   PLANETS. 


181 


TABLE  12. 


Names  of  known 

Common 

Serial 

Theoretical       Actua,  Velodtie. 

Satellites. 

Difference. 

Numbers 

MilesT-hc^r.        Miles  per  hour. 

714   5 

<          1    = 

714 

714 

8 

1,428 

714 

3 

2,142 

714 

4 

2,856 

714 

5 

3,570 

714 

6 

4,284 

714 

7 

4,998 

714 

8 

5,712 

714 

9 

6,426 

714 

10 

7,140 

Japetus  

714 

11 

7,854                 7,966 

Hyperion  

714 

17 

12,138               12,21.1 

Titan  

714 

19 

13,566                13,635 

Rhea  

714 

29 

20,706               20,77C 

Dione  

714 

34 

24,276               24,51£ 

Tethys  

714 

39 

27,846               27,770 

Enceladus  

714 

44 

31,416               30,975 

Mimas.  . 

..714 

49 

34.986               34.986 

SEEIAL   RELATIONS    OP   THE    SQUARE    ROOTS    OF 

THE  DISTANCES    OF    SATURN'S 

SATELLITES. 

EXPLANATION  OF  TABLE  13. 

We  will  next  examine  table  13  of  the  square  roots  of  the 
distances,  of  Saturn's  satellites.  The  mean  distance  of  Mi- 
mas, the  nearest  satellite,  is  126,000  miles.  The  square  root 
of  this  number  is  35.5,  which,  if  multiplied  by  the  serial 
number  49,  gives  a  product  of  1,740,  which  is  the  square 
root  of  the  distance  of  the  most  distant  possible  satellite  of 
this  series.  1,740  being  divided  by  the  serial  number  of  any 
sattelite  of  this  series,  gives,  for  a  quotient,  the  square  root 
of  the  mean  distance  of  that  satellite.  The  tables  of 
Saturn's  serial  relations  are  interesting  on  account  of  the 
remarkable  resemblance  which  they  bear  to  those  of  the 
solar  system. 


182 


SERIAL  RELATIONS 


TABLE  13. 


SATURN'S   SYSTEM. 


Satellite') 
Names. 


Theoretical        Actnal  known 
distances.  distance. 


1,740  - 

f-     1    .= 

=     1740. 

1,740 

'     2 

870. 

1,740 

'     3 

580. 

1,740 

'     4 

435. 

1,740 

'     5 

348. 

1,740 

'     6 

.      290. 

1,740 

'     7 

249. 

1,740 

.'     8 

217. 

1,740 

'     9 

193. 

1,740 

'    10 

174. 

Japetus.  . 

1,740 

'    11 

158. 

1,740 

'   12 

145. 

1,740 

'    13 

134. 

1,740 

<    14 

124. 

1,740 

'    15 

116. 

1,740 

'    16 

109. 

Hyperion. 

1,740 

'    17 

102. 

1,740 

'   18    ' 

97. 

Titan.  ... 

1,740 

'    19 

91.5 

Rhea  .... 

1,740 

'   29 

60. 

Dione.  .  .. 

1,740 

'   34 

51. 

Tethys... 

1,740 

'   39 

44.6 

Enceladus 

1,740 

"   44 

39.5 

Mimas.  .  . 

1,740 

'   49 

35.5 

2,496,000  2,414,000 


1,080,000  1,050,000 


837,000 
360,000 
260,000 
200,000 
156,000 
126,000 


800,000 
358,000 
256,000 
200,000 
161,000 
126,000 


SERIAL   RELATIONS   OF   THE   SATELLITES    OF 
URANUS. 

EXPLANATION  OF  TABLE  14. 

The  satellites  of  Uranus  are  yet  the  subjects  of  discussion 
and  doubt,  and  their  elements  are  generally  regarded  by 
astronomers  as  unsettled.  In  constructing  table  14,  I  have 
put  down  four  of  the  satellites  according  to  Dr.  Lardner. 
The  two  nearest  satellites  to  the  primary  are  not  mentioned 


OF  THE   PLANETS.  183 

by  him,  and  have  been  but  lately  discovered.  I  find  their 
distances  stated  in  Nichol's  Cyclopedia  of  the  Physical 
Sciences;  and  from  this  datum  I  have  calculated  their  orbital 
velocities.  The  agreement  of  the  actual  velocities  of  this 
series  of  six  satellites  with  those  •  derived  from  theory,  is, 
under  the  circumstances,  remarkable ;  and  indicates  that 
the  observations  of  astronomers  are  not  far  'wrong. 

There  are  two  other  and  more  distant  satellites  in  this 
system,  the  7th  and  8th  from  the  primary,  (A.  and  B.,) 
which  the  elder  Herschell  announced  that  he  saw  through 
his  telescope  ;  and  although  he  recorded  their  elements,  no 
other  astronomer  has  since  beeiyible  to  find  them :  it  is  con- 
sequently supposed  that  Herscmm  was  mistaken.  He  puts 
down  the  velocities  of  these  doubtful  satellites,  (See  Lard- 
ner's  Hand  Book  of  Astronomy,)  one  as  3,816  miles  per 
hour,  and  the  other  as  5,398  miles  per  hour.  If  the  law  of 
common  difference  may  be  relied  upon,  Herschell  was  cer- 
tainly mistaken,  either  in  his  record  or  in  his  calculations. 
But  it  is  possible  that  he  was  not  mistaken  in  his  observa- 
tions. He  may  actually  have  seen  both  of  them,  but  com- 
mitted an  error  in  regard  to  their  positions.  Apply- 
ing the  law  of  common  difference,  we  find  that  these  two 
satellites,  if  they  exist,  have,  one  a  velocity  of  4,036,  (in- 
stead of  3,816,)  and  the  other  5,236,  (instead  of  5,392),  miles 
per  hour. 


184 


SERIAL  KELATIONS 


TABLE  14. 


SATELLITES    OF   URANUS. 

Theoretical  velocitiea.        Actual  velocities. 
Miles  per  hour.  Miles  per  hour. 

Velocity  of  A,  a  doubtful  satellite    4,036  3,816(?) 

Add  600x2= 1,200 

Velocity  of  B,  a  doubtful  satellite.     5,236  5,398(?) 

Add  600x4= 2,400 

Velocity  of  C,  a  knovrn  saltllite.  . .     7,636  7,636 

Add  600 * 600 

Velocity  of  D,  a  known  satellite. . .     8,236  8,178 

Add  600 600 

Velocity  of  E,  a  known  satellite.  .     8,836  8,828 

Add  £00x2= 1,200 

Velocity  of  F,  a  known  satellite. .   10,036  10,056 

Add  600x2= 1,200 

Velocity  of  G,  a  known  satellite. .   11,236  11,200 

Add  600x2= 1,200 

Velocity  of  H,  a  known  satellite. .   12,436  12,500 

NOTE.— I  have,  in  the  above  table,  put  down  the  actual  velocity  of  A 
as  3,816,  and  of  B,  5,398,  but  I  only  mean  that  these  are  their  actual  ve- 
locities according  to  the  calculations  of  Sir  William  Herschell,  which  are 
probably  erroneous. 


SECTION  V. 

COMPARATIVE  ASTKOGENEA. 

IF  we  compare  the  solar  and  the  several  satellitic 
systems  with  each  other,  we  find  that  there  are 
not  only  many  points  of  resemblance,  but  also 
some  particulars  in  which  they  are  very  different. 
It  would  seem  that  the  system  of  Jupiter,  of 
Saturn,  of  Uranus,  and  even  of  the  Earth  and  her 
moon,  were  formed  by  the  operation  of  the  same 
general  laws  of  nature  which  presided  over  the  for- 
mation of  the  solar  system.  But  the  conditions 
and  circumstances  under  which  those  laws  acted, 
were  different  and  peculiar  in  each  system.  After 
reflecting  much  upon  the  subject,  I  find  that  all  the 
essential  differences  among  the  systems  can  be  ac- 
counted for  by  supposing  that  the  primitive 
nebulae,  from  which  they  were  formed,  differed 
from  each  other  in  density,  or  in  magnitude,  or 
both.  Suppose  two  nebulae  we^e  at  first  exactly 
alike  in  every  essential  particular,  except  that  one 
was  twice  as  dense  as  the  other.  The  rings  formed 
in  the  more  dense  system  would,  according  to 
theory,  be  just  as  numerous,  as  wide,  and  as  near 
to  the  primary  as  in  the  less  dense;  but  being 
twice  as  dense,  they  would  possess  twice  as  much 
attractive  power.  They  would,  therefore,  purturb 
16* 


186  COMPARATIVE 

each  other  more,  and  cause  a  greater  number  of 
rings  to  become  asteroidal ;  consequently,  the  in- 
tervals between  the  normal  secondaries  would  be 
greater  than  in  a  less  dense  system. 

Let  us  now  compare  Jupiter's  satellites  with 
those  of  Saturn.  We  may  fairly  presume  that  the 
present  relative  densities  of  the  planets  are  a 
proper  criterion  of  the  relative  densities  of  the 
primitive  nebulae  from  which  they  were  formed. 
According  to  this  rule  the  Saturnian  nebula  was 
the  least  dense.  We  can  therefore  understand 
why  the  satellites  of  Saturn  are  smaller,  more  nu- 
merous, and  nearer  to  the  sun  and  each  other  than 
those  of  Jupiter.  The  bright  rings  of  Saturn 
have  generally  been  regarded  as  anomalous  and 
exceptional.  I  suspect,  however,  that  there  are 
similar  rings  in  every  system ;  but  that  in  Saturn's 
system  the  matter  of  which  the  rings  are  com- 
posed has  so  little  density,  and  therefore  presents  so 
large  a  surface  for  the  reflection  of  light,  that  we 
can  see  them:  whereas,  in  all  other  cases  the 
meteoric  or  asteroidal  masses,  though  really  ar- 
ranged in  rings,  are  invisible,  because,  instead  of 
being  aggregated  as  in  Saturn's  rings,  they  are 
formed  into  more  widely  separated  bodies,  so  small 
and  dense  that  they  have  not  yet  been  discovered. 
What  we  call  the  zodiacal  lights  undoubtedly  pro- 
ceed, from  several  rings  of  asteroids,  which  differ 
from  those  between  Jupiter  and  Mars,  principally, 
in  being  smaller  and  denser,  so  that  they  cannot 
be  as  easily  seen.  Some  of  the  asteroids  which 


ASTKOGENEA.  187 

theory  indicates,  between  Saturn  and  Jupiter,  are 
probably  quite  as  large  as  Juno,  and  may  yet  be 
discovered.  We  can  now  perceive  why  Saturn's 
system,  (included  within  the  orbit  of  Japetus,)  is 
five  millions  of  miles  in  diameter;  while  that  of 
Jupiter,  (included  within  the  orbit  of  Callisto,)  is 
only  three  millions.  If  the  Saturnian  system  had 
shrunk  so  as  to  be  twice  its  present  density,  it 
would  doubtless  have  occupied  less  space  than 
Jupiter's  system  does. 

The  rings  of  the  Jovian  nebula  were  more  dense 
and  attractive  than  those  of  the  Saturnian;  and 
therefore  purturbed  one  another  to  such  a  degree 
that  a  large  number  were  prevented  from  becoming 
satellites,  consequently  the  intervals  between  those 
that  were  formed  are  very  wide. 

One  of  the  consequences  of  our  theory  is  that 
the  greater  the  mass  of  a  primary,  the  narrower 
the  secondary  rings  were  at  a  given  distance  from 
the  primary ;  for  the  larger  the  primary  the  greater  . 
must  be  the  orbital  velocities  of  the  secondaries  at 
given  distances ;  and  of  course  the  narrower  must 
have  been  the  rings.  At  the  distance  of  one 
million  of  miles  from  Jupiter,  the  primitive  satel- 
litic  rings  were  much  wider  than  those  formed  in 
the  solar  system  one  million  of  miles  from  the  sun. 
Saturn's  rings,  at  the  same  distance,  were  still 
wider  ; .  and  the  rings  of  our  own  terrestial  system, 
from  the  principal  of  which  our  moon  was  formed* 
was  the  widest  of  all,  when  the  distance  from  the 
primary  is  considered. 


188  .  COMPARATIVE 

Now  let  us  compare  two  systems  that  are  alike 
in  every  thing,  except  that  in  one  the  primary 
is  many  times  the  more  massive.  What  difference 
would  that  make  in  the  secondaries  ?  The  larger 
the  primary  the  greater,  all  else  equal,  must  be  the 
orbital  velocities  of  the  secondaries,  and,  conse- 
quently, the  narrower  the  rings  formed  within  a 
given  distance  of  the  centre.  The  narrower  the 
rings  the  more  they  must  have  purturbed  each 
other,  and  tended  to  produce  asteroids.  This  is  the 
reason  why  the  interval  between  the  primary  and 
the  first  secondary  is  greater  the  larger  the  primary 
is,  provided  the  densities  are  equal.  Jupiter  is 
both  denser  and  larger  than  Saturn ;  so  that  there 
are,  in  this  case,  two  reasons  why  the  the  interval 
should  be  greater  between  Jupiter  and  lo  than 
between  Saturn  and  Mimas. 


SECTION  VI. 

PHYSICAL  CAUSE  OF  GRAVITATION. 

SIR  Isaac  Newton  discovered  that  the  force  of 
gravitation  is  directly  as  the  mass,  and  inverse- 
ly as  the  square  of  the  distance  from  the  attracting 
body ;  but  neither  Newton  nor  any  other  philos- 
opher has  given  us  even  .a  plausible  conjecture  con- 
cerning the  generation,  origin,  or  physical  cause  of 
this  wonderful  force.  Descartes,  without  being 
acquainted  with  the  law  of  gravitation,  attempted 
to  account  for  the  fact  by  supposing  that  there  is 
an  imperceptible  and  universal  fluid  or  ether ,  almost 
infinitely  attenuated  and  subtle,  the  vortical  mo- 
tions of  which  caused  bodies  to  gravitate  toward 
each  other.  Newton  himself,  at  one  time,  partially 
adopted  this  idea.  In  one  of  his  letters  to  a  friend 
he  says,  "  I  seek  in  the  ether  for  the  cause  of  gravi- 
tation." He  conjectured  that  the  ether  is  less  dense 
in  the  interiors  of  bodies  than  at  their  surfaces,  and 
less  dense  there  than  at  some  distance  beyond,  and 
thus  the  density  increased  with  distance.  This 
being  admitted,  he  thought  that  small  bodies  would 
move  toward  larger  ones  because  they  would,  on 
mechanical  principles,  be  forced  to  advance  from  a 
denser  medium  to  one  less  dense.  After  about 
eight  years  of  hesitation,  he  expressed  his  convic- 


190  PHYSICAL  CAUSE: 

tion  that  this  hypothesis  was  untenable.  There  is, 
however,  no  evidence  that  he  abandoned  the  idea 
that  gravitation  depends  upon  the  ether  or  etheri- 
um,  with  which  the  regions  of  space,  and  the  in- 
terstices of  all  gross  matter,  are  filled.  Euler,  the 
celebrated  mathematician,  entertained  the  opinion 
that  gravitation  is  caused  by  a  progressive  move- 
ment of  the  etherial  fluid  toward  the  centres  of 
bodies ;  but  he  frankly  confessed  that  he  could  not 
conjecture  what  would  cause  such  a  movement.  I 
concur  with  Euler  in  his  opinion  that  gravitation  is 
caused  by  a  movement  of  the  ether,  or  etherium, 
(as  I  prefer  to  call  it,)  and  I  take  the  liberty  to 
offer  the  following  hypothesis  to  account  for  it. 

The  particles  of  etherium,  in  common  with  those 
of  all  other  fluids,  possess  a  wonderful  degree  of 
motion  among  each  other.  It  is  this  motion  or 
force  that  keeps  the  etherium  in  an  expanded  state, 
and  enables  a  very  small  quantity  of  matter  to  fill 
a  large  space.  When  the  particles  of  etherial  mat- 
ter come  into  contact  with  gross  planetary  matter, 
the  etherial  particles  become  condensed  and  as- 
similated to  the  gross  matter:  they  loose  their 
etherial  character  and  become  a  part  of  the  planet. 
The  force  which  kept  the  etherial  matter  in  an  ex- 
panded state,  is  set  free,  converted  into  heat  and 
light,  and  most  of  it  radiated  away.  This  conden- 
sation of  etherium,  and  the  conversion  and  radia- 
tion of  its  expansive  force,  cannot  happen  without 
producing  a  vacuum  at  each  point  where  the  con- 
densation takes  place ;  and  a  converging  or  gravi- 


OF  GKAVITATIOtf.  191 

tating  movement  of  the  surrounding  etherial  fluid 
will  necessarily  follow  to  fill  the  vacuum.  This 
movement  thus  produced  is  the  immediate  cause  of 
gravitation. 

The  force  of  gravitation  must  be  generated  in 
the  attracting  body  itself,  and  not  outside  of  it. 
This  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  the  force  is  great- 
est near  the  body,  and  rapidly  decreases  with  dis- 
tance. 

If  the  etherium  moves  toward  bodies  to  produce 
gravitation,  it  nmst  remain"  with  them,  and  it  must 
be  continually  condensed  to  make  room  for  the 
particles  that  are  following,  or  else  the  stream 
would  stop. 

The  force  of  gravitation  is  analogous  to  light 
and  heat  and  other  radiant  forces  in  only  one  par- 
ticular,-and  that  is,  that  it  decreases  with  distance 
in  the  same  ratio.  "VYe  know  that  the  reason  why 
radiant  force  decreases  with  distance  is  because  it 
is  removed  further  from  its  source,  is  divided  among 
a  larger  number  of  the  particles  of  the  medium 
through  which  it  is  moving,  and  diffused  over  a 
larger  area.  The  same  must  be  true  of  gravitation. 

Radiant  force  proceeds  from  celestial  bodies, 
while  gravitation  acts  in  the  contrary  direction. 
Gravitation  cannot  be  a  force  in  the  same  sense 
that  light  and  heat  and  sound  are  forces.  It"  is  not 
analogous  to  them  in  being  liable  to  be  modified 
by  the  medium  thixmgh  which  it  passes;  it  cannot 
be  refracted,  nor  reflected,  nor,  by  any  known 
means,  can  it  be  turned  oiit  of  its  course  in  the 


192  PHYSICAL  CAUSE 

slightest  degree.  It  seems  to  operate  through  all 
bodies  and  substances  with  equal  impunity  and 
ease,  undiminished  in  quantity  by  anything  except 
distance.  If  any  substance  is  the  agent  or  medium 
of  the  force  of  gravitation,  it  must  be  that  which 
is  the  most  universal,  pervading,  subtle  and  per- 
meating in  existence;  in  a  word,  it  must  be 
etheriurn. 

If  we  examine  the  phenomena  of  nature  with 
which  we  are  well  acquainted,  we  find  nothing  anal- 
ogous to  gravitation,  except  condensation.  Here 
the  analogy,  so  far  as  it  extends,  is  perfect.  When 
a  body  collapses,  condenses,  or  shrinks,  the  sur- 
rounding fluid  concentrates,  or  gravitates,  and 
presses  from  all  directions,  toward  the  centre  of 
the  condensing  body,  to  fill  the  vacuum. 

The  force  of  gravitation  is  commonly  said  to  de- 
crease with  distance,  but  in  fact  it  is  merely  divided 
or  diffused  through  a  larger  space. 

.  I  have  used  the  word  assimilation  in  connection 
with  gravitation,  because  I  really  believe  that  there 
is  a  perfect  analogy,  if  not  an  identity,  in  the  man- 
ner in  which  gross  matter  appropriates  etherial 
matter  to  itself,  and  that  in  which  organic  beings 
•  appropriate  their  food  and  assimilate  it.  Indeed, 
it  appears  to  me  highly  probable,  that  etherial  as- 
similation is  the  first  step  in  that  wonderful  march 
of  organic  creation,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest 
types  of  beings,  which  is  now  exciting  so  much 
interest  among  comparative  physiologists.  Vege- 
table and  animal  organisms  result  from  more  ad- 


OF  GRAVITATION.  193 

vanced  and  complicated  specializations,  of  the  same 
general  process,  as  that  by  which  etherial  matter  is 
organized  into  planetary  matter. 

At  the  first  thought  it  would  seem  that  if  this 
theory  is  true,  the  planets,  and  all  visible  bodies, 
must  have  increased  to  such  a  degree  that  their 
growth  would  "have  been  demonstrable.  But  this 
objection  becomes  less  formidable  the  more  we 
consider  the  wonderful  minuteness  of  the  etherial 
atoms,  and  also  the  short  period  during  which 
philosophical  observations  have  been  recorded.  If 
a  man  of  ever  so  much  natural  sagacity  never  had 
seen  a  tree,  except  for  a  single  day,  it  would  be 
impossible  for  him,  by  mere  observation,  to  learn 
that  it  was  gradually  growing  larger.  And  we 
must  consider  that  a  day  in  the  life  time  of  a  tree 
is  relatively  a  much  longer  period  than  three 
thousand  .years  in  the  age  of  the  earth. 

In  a  company  in  which  this  theory  was  under 
discussion,  a  few  days  ago,  a  gentleman  made  the 
following  objection:  if  the  weight  of  a  body,  a 
piece  of  gold  for  instance,,  is  caused  by  a  stream 
of  etherial  particles,  acting  with  a  certain  degree 
of  force  on  one  side,  of  the  gold,  it  would  be  ana- 
lagous  in  its  effects  to  a  wind ;  and  if  the  piece  of 
gold  were  beaten  out  into  a  thin  sheet,  and  its 
broadest  side  presented  to  the  current,  it  shoula 
weigh  many  times  more  than  if  its  thin  edge  were 
presented  to  the  current.  But  the  fact  is  that  the 
piece  of  gold  will  weigh  just  as  much  in  one  posi- 
tion as  another ;  therefore  this  theory  cannot  be 
17 


194  PHYSICAL  CAUSE 

true.  This  objection  would  seem  to  be  well  found- 
ed, if  we  were  at  liberty  to  assume  that  the  consti- 
tuent atoms  of  the  gold  were  in  perfect  contact 
with  each  other,  so  that  the  atoms  of  etherimn 
could  not  get  between  them ;  but  the  probability 
is  that  none  of  the  atoms  of  gold  or  of  any  thing 
else  are  in  actual  contact ;  on  the  contrary,  the 
spaces  between  them  are  filled  with  etherial  par- 
ticles. This  being  the  case,  a  movement  of  the 
etherium  must  act  upon  each  atom  of  gold  separ- 
ately, and  the  effect,  therefore,  will  be  the  same 
whether  the  sheet  of  metal  is  presented  in  one  posi- 
tion or  another. 

Since  every  known  substance  may  be  reduced  in  bulk  by 
pressure,  it  follows  that  the  particles  of  matter  are  not  in 
actual  contact,  but  are  separated  by  interstices.  *  *  * 
It  is  evident  that  the  smaller  the  interstitial  spaces  the 
greater  the  density*.  As  it  is  inconceivable  that  the  particles 
of  matter  should  act  upon  one  another  without  some  means 
of  communication,  there  is  every  reason  to  presume  that 
the  interstices  of  material  substances  contain  a  portion  of 
that  subtle,  etherial,  and  elastic  fluid  with  which  the  regions 
of  space  are  replete.  *  *  *  As  the  particles  are  not  in 
contact,  Prof.  Mossoti  supposes  that  each  is  encompassed  by 
an  atmosphere  of  the  etherial  fluid.  The  celebrated  Frank- 
lin was  the  first  who  explained  the  phenomena  of  electricity 
in  repose,  by  supposing  the  molecules  of  bodies  to  be  sur- 
rounded by  an  atmosphere  of  electric  (etherial)  fluid. — MRS. 
SOMERVILLE'S  CONNECTION  OF  PHYSICAL,  SCIENCES. 

In  order  to  form  a  correct  idea  of  the  process  of 
etherial  condensation,  we  must  first  consider  the 
relation  of  matter  to  force  and  space.  It  may  be 


OP  GRAVITATION.  195 

laid  down  as  an  axiom  that,  all  else  equal,  the 
quantity  of  matter  and  the  quantity  of  force  in  any 
given  space  are  in  inverse  ratio  to  each  other.  The 
greater  the  quantity  of  force  or  motion  there  is 
among  the  constituents  of  any  mass,  the  greater 
space  it  must  occupy.  Physically  speaking,  there 
is  nothing  in  existence  but  matter,  space,  and  force; 
and  neither  of  these  can  be  destroyed,  or  its  quan- 
tity in  any  degree  diminished.  We  may  change 
the  form  of  matter,  but  it  must,  every  atom  of  it, 
continue  in  existence.  So  it  is  with  force ;  it  may 
appear  as  heat  and  change  to  magnetism,  galvan- 
ism, electricity,  engine  motion,  or  animal  force,  but 
it  is  the  same  identical  force  under  all  these  differ- 
ent  names  and  modes  of  manifestation. 

A  mass  of  matter  always  occxipies  a  certain 
quantity  of  space  which  is  invariable.  It  may 
change  from  one  space  to  another,  but  it  cannot  fill 
more  or  less  space.  What  is  called  expansion  is 
the  eifect  of  additional  force  causing  the  constitu- 
ent particles  to  become  farther  separated  from  each 
other;  and  what  is  called  condensation  is  the  effect 
of  the  loss  of  force,  causing  the  constituents  to  ap- 
proach nearer  to  each  other.  It  is  atomic  or  mole- 
cular force  which  keeps  the  particles  of  etherial 
matter  from  all  condensing  together  into  perfectly 
solid  masses. 

According  to  the  hypothesis  of  Laplace,  the  ne- 
bula from  which  the  solar  system  was  formed  was 
expanded  and  attenuated  by  free  heat,  which  was 
constantly  radiated  away  to  the  colder  etherial 


196  PHYSICAL  CAUSE 

space  by  which  it  was  surrounded;  and  in  this  man- 
ner the  nebula  became  contracted  and  condensed. 
I  suppose,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  heat  which 
the  nebula  contained  was  not  free  but  latent.  It 
was  like  the  heat  that  exists  in  oxygen  gas ;  and 
which  is  not  set  free  until  the  oxygen  has  come  in 
contact  with  fuel,  under  the  proper  conditions  to 
produce  combustion.  I  admit  that  the  nebula  was 
expanded  by  force,  which  was  susceptible  of  being 
made  to  assume  the  form  of  free  radiant  heat,  when 
the  nebulous  matter  became  condensed,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  mutual  collision  of  its  constituents. 

Most  of  the  writers  on  astronomy  and  geology 
adopt  the  idea  that  the  heat  of  the  sun,  and  the 
internal  heat  of  the  earth,  are  merely  the  residue 
of  the  primitive  heat,  which  the  solar  system  pos- 
sessed when  in  its  embryotic  state ;  that  the  earth 
and  all  the  planets  were  once  small  suns,  which 
have  gradually  cooled  down  to  their  present  con- 
dition. This,  however,  is  a  mere  conjecture.  The 
only  facts  which  lend  it  any  support  are  derived 
from  geology ;  and  these  so  imperfectly  sustain  the 
hypothesis  that  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  the  most  philo- 
sophical of  geologists,  rejects  it  altogether. 

The  organic  remains  found  in  northern  and  even 
in  polar  climates,  prove  beyond  all  question  that  a 
temperate  and  equable  climate  once  prevailed 
there.  But  Mr.  Lyell  thinks  that  a  similar  climate 
would  prevail  there  again  if  the  northern  conti- 
nents were  reduced  to  a  few  islands,  and  the  warm 
tropical  currents  could  have  free  course  through 


OF  GRAVITATION.  197 

the  polar  regions,  while  the  cold  Arctic  waters  in 
return  could  be  freely  and  continually  discharged 
toward  the  tropics. 

Just  as  the  elevation  of  the  mountains  in  the 
tropical  Andes  and  Alps  can  produce  the  climate 
of  winter  there,  so  the  sinking  of  the  polar  lands 
would,  by  preventing  them  from  accumulating 
cold,  and  at  the  same  time  by  allowing  the  warm 
currents  to  flow  freely  among  the  few  low  islands 
that  remained,  produce  a  climate  similar  to  that  in- 
dicated by  the  geological  remains  in  the  secondary 
period.  According  to  the  theory  of  gravitation 
which  I  am  proposing,  the  earth,  instead  of  grow- 
ing cooler  by  radiation,  has  always  been  quite  as 
cool  as  it  is  now.  If  it  has  changed  in  this  respect 
— if  its  internal  heat  has  varied  in  quantity — it  is 
more  probable  that  instead  of  decreasing,  it  has 
increased  in  the  same  ratio  as  the  mass  of  the 
earth  has  increased  by  the  frequent  additions  of 
meteoric  stones,  and  by  etherial  assimulation ;  for, 
according  to  our  theory,  the  quantity  of  internal 
heat  possessed  by  any  celestial  body  is,  all  else 
equal,  in  the  ratio  of  its  mass. 

The  reason  why  the  planets  no  not  radiate  light 
while  the  sun  does,  is  because  the  radiating  sur- 
faces are  larger  in  proportion  to  their  masses  the 
smaller  the  bodies  are.  If  the  sun  could  be  broken 
up  into  a  thousand  distinct  bodies,  the  extent  of 
the  radiating  surfaces  would  be  so  much  increased 
that  all  the  bodies  would  become  opaque,  and 
their  luminosity  would  cease.  The  reason  why 


198  PHYSICAL  CAUSE 

suns  give  light  and  heat  is  because  they  are  so 
massive.  The  quantity  of  'heat  generated  is  in  the 
direct  ratio  of  their  masses,  while  their  surfaces 
are  inversely  as  their  masses. 

I  do  not  doubt  that  the  interior  of  the  earth  is 
filled,  and  always,  has  been,  with  fluid  matter,  and 
that  it  is  now  inconceivably  hot ;  but  it  does  not 
follow  that  it  was  once  still  hotter,  and  has  been 
gradually  cooling.  The  comets  are  all  composed 
of  fluid,  but  no  one  pretends  that  they  are  hot. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  they  radiate  either  heat 
or  light  to  a  perceptible  degree.  I  suppose  that 
our  globe  Avas  once  in  an  analogous  condition.  If 
a  comet  exists  any  where  in  the  regions  of -space 
which  contains  as  much  matter  as  our  sun,  I  have 
no  doubt  that  it  is  self-luminous  and  extremely  hot. 

Some  philosophers  have  lately  attempted  to  ac- 
count for  the  sun's  heat  and  light,  by  supposing 
that  the  comets  and  meteors  which  fall  upon  his 
surface  convert  their  velocities  into  heat,  and  thus 
compensate  the  sun  for  that  which  is  lost  by  radia- 
tion. In  proof  of  this,  they  declare  that  the  most 
careful  mathematical  estimates  have  established 
the  fact,  that,  unless  replenished,  the  sun's  radia- 
tions would  be  exhausted  in  four  or  five  thousand 
years.  The  objection  to  this  hypothesis  is,  that 
though  it  may  be  a  true  cause,  it  is  an  insufficient 
one:  and  besides,  it  gives  no  explanation  of  the 
internal  heat  of  the  earth.  I  would  propose,  there- 
fore, to  add  the  force  of  the  etherial  particles  to 
that  of  the  comets.  They  may  not  strike  with  as 


OP  GRAVITATION.  199 

powerful  a  momentum  as  the  comets,  but  they 
Burely  compensate  by  their  numbers  what  they 
lack  in  magnitude ;  they  also  penetrate  into  the 
utmost  recesses,  and  enter  the  smallest  pores  and 
interstices  of  planetary  matter. 

Every  mechanical  philosopher  understands  that 
if  a  body,  possessing  great  mass  and  momentum, 
is  overtaken  by  a  vast  number  of  small,  inelastic 
bodies,  moving  with  great  velocity,  the  small  ones 
will  lose  a  portion  of  their  velocites  by  communi- 
cating them  to  the  large  body ;  and  after  collision 
they  will  assimilate  their  motions  to  those  of  the 
large  body.  This,  I  conceive,  to  be  a  perfect  illus- 
tration of  the  effect  of  the  contact  or  collision  of 
etherial  with  planetary  matter.  The  etherial  par- 
ticles are  the  smallest  in  nature,  and  move  with 
greater  velocity  than  any  other.  When  they  come 
in  contact  with  planetary  matter,  they  become 
assimilated  to  it  in  motion  and  in  condensation. 

Nebulous  matter  was  doubtless  the  second  form 
which  primitive  matter  assumed,  in  the  progress  of 
creation ;  it  was  intermediate  between  etherial  and 
planetary  matter. 

I  have  spoken  of  nebulous  matter  and  of  the 
planets  as  if  the  day  of  creation  were  over;  but  in 
reality  creation  is  proceeding  now  as  rapidly  as 
ever.  I  can  form  no  idea  of  a  time  when  there 
were  less  worlds  in  existence  than  there  are  now. 
When  the  solar  system  began  its  career  there  were 
probably  an  infinite  number  of  systems  quite  as 
touch  advanced  in  age  as  ours  is  now. 


200  PHYSICAL  CAUSE 

The  force  that  is  radiated  away  when  condensa- 
tion takes  place  is  not  lost,  but  proceeds  to  other 
masses  and  worlds,  and  enters  them,  causing  their 
expansion ;  thus  the  balance  of  creation  is  main- 
tained. Condensation  and  expansion,  the  two 
great  antagonistic  forces  of  nature,  are  kept  con- 
stantly equal  to  each  other ;  if  one  mass  is  con- 
tracting in  consequence  of  radiation,  another  is 
expanding  in  consequence  of  the  absorption  of  the 
rays  of  force. 

The  precise  manner  in  which  force  produces  ex- 
pansion can  only  be  conjectured.  It  may  be  sup- 
posed that  each  of  the  constituent  atoms  of  a  body, 
air  for  instance,  has  a  motion  in  a  circle  or  ellipse, 
and  that  the  addition  of  more  force  causes  the 
ellipse  to  enlarge,  and  thus  each  atom  occupies,  or 
moves  through,  more  space  in  a  given  time.  When 
a  mass  loses  a  portion  of  its  force,  the  diameter  of 
the  atomic  orbits  is  diminished,  and,  of  course,  the 
whole  mass  becomes  smaller. 

Chemists  and  electricians  •  have  long  disputed 
concerning  the  manner  in  which  electricity  is 
evolved  when  bodies  in  diiferent  conditions  are 
brought  together,  especially  in  galvanic  batteries. 
Some  contend  that  mere  contact  is  sufficient  to 
evolve  electricity ;  others,  that  the  electricity  is  the 
result  of  chemical  action.  The  most  reasonable 
theory,  to  my  mind,  is,  that  the  component  parti- 
cles of  all  masses,  even  the  most  solid,  are  con- 
stantly moving  in  orbits,  and  that  the  particles  of 
each  mass  have  their  own  particular  velocity.. 


OP  GRAVITATION.  201 

When  two  masses  come  into  contact,  there  is  in- 
stantly a  struggle  among  the  constituents ;  those 
which  move  with  the  greater  velocity  are  said  to 
possess  positive  electricity,  and  those  that  have 
less  velocity  possess  negative  electricity.  After 
the  struggle  is  over,  the  two  electricities  are  said 

OO  7 

to  be  alike,  while,  in  fact,  the  velocities  of  all  the 
constituents  ai'e  alike.  The  difference  between 
velocity  and  momentum  is  well  known  in  regard 
to  the  visible  motions  of  bodies.  I  suspect  that 
what  are  called  positive  and  negative  electricities 
and  polarities  depend  upon  the  same  law.  If  the 
etherial  particles  in  one  body  have  greater  veloci- 
ty, and  in  another  body  greater  momentum,  they 
are  said  to  possess  opposite  electricities  ;  one  being 
called  positive  and  the  other  negative.  If  two 
metals  are  brought  into  contact,  which  differ  in 
temperature  or  density,  they  differ  in  electricity ; 
that  is  to  say,  their  etherial  atoms  differ  in  veloci- 
ty. What  is  chemical  action?  It  is  a  name  for  a 
process  which  no  one  understands.  All  the  pro- 
cesses of  nature  winch  we  do  really  understand 
are  purely  mechanical,  and  must  be  explained  by 
mechanical  laws. 

Combustion,  or  the  burning  of  substances,  is  a 
process  which  I  conceive  to  be  analogous  to  etheri- 
al assimilation  and  gravitation.  The  heat,  or  heat 
force,  that  is  evolved  when  fuel  is  burned,  pro- 
ceeds not  from  the  fuel  itself,  but  from  the  oxygen. 
Where  was  the  heat  before  it  was  radiated  from 
the  fuel '?  Did  it  reside  in  the  fuel  ?  By  no  means, 
18 


202  PHYSICAL  CAUSE 

It  existed  in  the  oxygen.  It  was  the  force  that 
kept  the  particles  of  oxygen  separated  from  each 
other.  When  the  oxygen  came  into  contact  with 
the  fuel  it  lost  its  expansive  force  and  became  con- 
densed, while  the  force  was  set  free  and  was  radi- 
ated away,  prodiicing  effects  which  AVC  call  heat. 
The  oxygen  which  previously  occupied  a  thousand 
cubic  yards  is  now  condensed  so  as  to  occupy  less 
than  one  cubic  inch.  The  condensation  takes  place 
at  the  point  where  the  oxygen  comes  into  contact 
with  the  fuel.  It  is  from  this  point  that  radiation 
proceeds.  It  is  here  that  a  vacuum  is  produced  by 
condensation  and  radiation,  and  it  is  toward  this 
point  that  the  surrounding  air  must  converge  or 
gravitate  to  fill  the  vacuum.  This  is  a  beautiful 
illustration  of  the  process  which,  according  to  our 
theory,  is  going  on  in  the  sun  and  all  other  planets 
continually ;  that  is  to  say,  radiation,  condensation, 
assimilation  and  gravitation  are  constantly  pro- 
ceeding together,  and  mutually  producing  each 
other. 

The  growing  of  a  plant  is  produced  by  the  con- 
densation of  the  carbon  which  is  in  the  atmosphere. 
A  plant  is  itself,  principally,  a  condensed  mass  of 
carbon  drawn  from  the  atmosphere,  where  it  exist- 
ed with  oxygen  in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid.  The 
expansive  force  which  it  possessed  is  set  free  be- 
fore it  is  condensed,  and  is  radiated  away.  Thus 
we  see  that  the  plant  assimilates  carbon,  the  fuel 
assimilates  oxygen,  and  the  planets  assimilate 
etherium.  These  three  processes  are  analogous  in 


OF  GRAVITATION.  203 

all  essential  respects.  If  we  could  see  the  particles 
of  carbonic  acid  moving  toward  a  plant,  of  oxy- 
gen moving  toward  fuel,  and  of  etherium  toward 
planets,  we  should  no  longer  enquire  concerning 
the  physical  cause  of  gravitation. 

RECAPITULATION  OF  ASTROGENEA. 

1.  The  hypothesis  of  Laplace,   that   increasing 
centrifugal  force  threw  the  exterior  rim  of  the  neb- 
ula off,  is  inconsistent  with  the  fact  that  667  parts 
out  of  668  are  now  in  the  sun;  and  439  out  of  475 
parts  of  the  remainder  are  now  in  the  interior  third 
of  the  radius  of  the  system,  while  only  36  parts  are 
in  the  outer  two  thirds. 

2.  The  nebulous  mass  in  rotation  would  tend  to 
become  an  oblate  spheroid;  and  the  most  of  its 
matter  would  be  located  between  the  sun  and  Ju- 
piter, where  there  actually  is  the  least  matter. 

3.  The   effect   of  a   resisting   etherial   medium 
would  be  to  cause  the  lightest  portion  of  the  neb- 
ulous matter  to  move  in  spiral  paths  to  the  sun. 
The  matter  nearest  to  the  sun,  the  orbital  motion 
of  which  was  greatest,  would  be  most  affected  by 
the  medium.    The  densities  of  the  planets,  and  the 
actual  distribution  of  matter  in  the  solar  system, 
and  in  each  system  of  satellites,  is  such  as  this 
theory  requires.     In  each  system  there  is,  first,  an 
immense  primary;  second,  several  small  seconda- 

NOTE. — Astrogenea  is  from  the  Latin  aster,  a  star,  and  genesis ;  and 
literally  signifies— the  hirth  of  the  stars. 


204  RECAPITULATION. 

ries  with  narrow  intervals,  the  first  interval,  how- 
ever, being  greater  than  the  next  succeeding  one ; 
third,  there  is  one  giant  secondary,  containing  more 
matter  than  all  the  others;  fourth,  beyond  the 
giant  are  one  or  more  secondaries  of  intermediate 
size,  with  very  wide  intervals. 

4.  It  was  long  ago  noticed  that  the  intervals  be- 
tween the  planets  and  satellites  become   greater 
the  further  they  are  from  the  centre,  and  this  fact 
is  represented  by  what  is  called  Bode's  Law ;  but 
no  reason  for  the  fact  has,  until  now,  been  discover- 
ed.    I  have  found  that  the  differences  between  the 
orbital  velocities  of  the  secondaries,  in  each  sys- 
tem, can  be  divided  by  a  common  divisor,  without 
any  essential  remainder.     The  divisor  in  the  case  of 
the  planets  is  1,582;  of  Jupiter's  satellites,  808 ;  of 
Saturn's  satellites,  714;  of  the  satellites  of  Uranus, 
600.     I  account  for  this  fact  on  the  theory  that  the 
parts  of  the  nebula  were  held  together  by  an  at- 
tractive force,  which,  in  the  solar  system,  it  requir- 
ed a  difference  of  orbital  velocities  equal  to  1,582 
miles  per  hour  to  overcome.     On  account  of  the 
increasing  velocities,   this  difference  was  obtained 
with  less  difference  of  distance  (a  narrower  interval) 
the  nearer  the  matter  was  to  the  centre ;  conse- 
quently the  rings  decreased  in  width  in  the  same 
ratio  as  the  velocities  increased;  and  the  primitive 
rings  had  a  common  difference  of  velocities  equal 
to  1,582  miles  per  hour. 

5.  The   movement  of  the  nebulous   matter  in 
spiral  paths  toward  the  centre,  caused  a  large  por- 


RECAPITULATION.  205 

tion  to  accumulate  at  the  inner  edge  of  each  ring 
in  a  globular  mass;  and  thus  the  rings  became 
transformed  to  planets. 

6.  In  the  interior  parts  of  each  system  the  rings 
were  extremely  narrow,  and  the  attraction  of  the 
exterior  rings  prevented  the  inward  spiral  move- 
ment requisite  to  form  normal  planets :  consequent- 
ly, rings  of  asteroids  or  planetettes  were  produced 
between  all  the  interior  secondaries. 

7.  In  the  outer  parts  of  the  system,  where  the 
rings  were  very  wide,  and  the  planets  not  very  large, 
no  asteroids  were  formed :  therefore  I  infer  the  ex- 
istence of  a  planet  (Pluto)  between  Neptune  and 
Uranus,  and  several  others  between  Uranus  and 
Saturn.     I  also  infer  the  existence  of  several  undis- 
covered satellites  in  Saturn's  system. 

•£.  The  orbital  velocities  of  unseen  planets  being 
ascertained  by  the  theory  of  common  difference, 
their  distances  can  also  be  determined,  by  the  rule 
that  the  orbital  velocities,  one  to  another,  are  in- 
versely proportional  to  the  square  roots  of  the 
mean  distances. 

9.  In  carrying  this  new  theory  out  to  its  con- 
sequences, an  interesting  relation  has  been  discov- 
ered between  the  square  roots  of  the   distances, 
which  has  never  before  been  known,  and  which  is 
illustrated  by  several  tables. 

10.  The  more  massive  a  primary,  the  narrower 
at  a  given  distance,  must  have  been  the  primitive 
rings  or  intervals,  and  therefore  more  likely  to  pur- 
turb  each  other,  and  produce  asteroids, 


206  RECAPITULATION. 

11.  The  less  dense  the  nebula  from  which  rings 
were  formed,  the  less  massive  the  rings  must  have 
been,  and  therefore  less  likely  to  produce  asteroids 
by  their  mutual  purturbations. 

12.  The  reason  why  Saturn's  satellites  are,  some 
of  them,  so  near  the  primary,  is  because  the  primi- 
tive Saturnian  nebula  had  so  little  density.     The 
same  fact  accounts  for  the  narrow  intervals  between 
Saturn's  interior  satellites. 

13.  Gravitation  is  caused  by  the  planetary  mat- 
ter constantly  assimilating   and  condensing  ethe- 
rium,  and  setting  its  expansive  force  free.     The  ra- 
diation of  this  force  accounts  for  the  exhaustless 
heat  and  light  of  the  sun.     The  movements  of  sur- 
rounding etherium  to  fill  the  vacua  produced  by 
radiation,  is  the  physical  cause  of  gravitation. 

14.  The  internal  heat  of  the  earth,  and  of  all 
other  planets,  may  be  accounted  for  on  the  same 
principle. 


CIRCULAR 


Ever  since  it  was  said  to  Adam,  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou 
eat  bread,"  there  has  been  a  necessity  laid  upon  man  not  only  to  labor, 
but  to  EXCHANGE  with  others  the  products  of  his  industry,  in  order  to 
obtain  a  comfortable  support.  -'Deliver  all  things  in  number  and 
weight,  and  put  all  in  writing  that  thou  givest  out  or  receivest  in,"  is  a 
precept  of  universal  application :  and  there  is  a  special  necessity  for  its 
observance  in  all  business  transactions  between  debtor  and  creditor. 
— Preface  to  Mayfiew's  Book-keeping. 


IRA  MAYHEW,  A.  M.,  PRESIDENT, 

AUTHOK  OF  "MAYHEW'S  PRACTICAL  BOOK-KEEPING,"  "MEANS  AND  ENDS 
OF  UNIVERSAL  EDUCATION,"  ETC.,  AND  EIGHT  TEARS  SUPERIN- 
TENDENT OF  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION  IN  MICHIGAN. 


DETROIT : 

THE  DAILY  POST  STEAM  FEINT. 


ALBION  COMMERCIAL  COLLEGE. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

The  founder  and  proprietor  of  the  Albion  Commercial  Col- 
lege, has  long  been  an  advocate  for  practical  education.  He 
believes  with  a  former  King  of  Sparta,  that  "  boys  should 
learn  those  things  which  they  will  have  occasion  to  prac- 
tice when  they  become  men."  Certain  it  is,  that  while  edu- 
cation should  be  disciplinary,  and  be  conducted  with  wise 
reference  to  harmoniously  developing  all  the  human  capabi- 
lities, it  should  likewise  have  due  regard  to  the  training  of 
youth  for  the  particular  callings  in  which  they  expect  to 
engage.  Young  men  expecting  to  become  lawyers  or  phy- 
sicians, hence  appropriately  attend  the  Law  School  or  the 
Medical  College,  in  order  to  receive  that  necessary  prelimi- 
nary training  without  which  they  cannot  reasonably  hope 
to  attain  success.  So  persons  intending  to  become  book- 
keepers, or  to  engage  in  merchandise,  or  in  any  of  the 
numerous  commercial  pursuits  of  the  country,  should  at- 
tend a  well  regulated  Commercial  College,  and  for  a  like 
reason.  And  in  their  training  here,  students  should  not  be 
taught  a  few  forms  and  methods  merely,  as  is  too  commonly 
practiced,  but  they  should  be  thoroughly  instructed  in  the 
principles  tJiat  underlie  all  forms  and  metlwds,  that  they  may 
be  prepared  to  develop  new  forms,  and  to  modify  old  ones, 
as  varying  circumstances  arise ;  for  they  can  in  no  other 
way  become  adequate  to  the  emergencies  that  are  incident 
to  this  world  of  change. 

LOCATION  OF  THE  COLLEGE. 

The  Albion  Commercial  College  is  pleasantly  located  in 
the  well  regulated  village  of  Albion,  ninety-five  miles  west 


APPENDIX,  iii 

from  Detroit,  on  the  M.  C.  R.  E.  While  thus  easy  of  access, 
it  affords  a  home  for  the  student,  while  pursuing  his  com- 
mercial studies,  at  much  less  cost  than  is  attendant  upon  a 
residence  in  large  cities. 

Commercial  Colleges  have  generally  been  located  in  cities, 
thus  subjecting  students  from  abroad  to  large  expense  for 
board,  and  exposing  them  unnecessarily  to  the  corrupting 
influences  incident  to  such  situations.  It  has  become  an 
established  fact,  that  locations  which  are  favorable  for  Semi- 
naries of  Learning  are,  for  like  reasons,  desirable  for  Com- 
mercial Colleges.  A  quiet  and  healthy  location,  commodious 
buildings,  competent  instructors,  and  a  thorough  course  of 
study,  are  essential  to  success, — all  of  which,  it  is  believed, 
are  here  combined. 

COURSE  OF  STUDY. 

The  course  of  instruction  in  the  Albion  Commercial  Col- 
lege embraces  Book-keeping  by  Single  and  Double  Entry,  in 
all  their  numerous  forms,  and  everything  that  is  necessary 
to  the  attainment  of  skill  therein.  It  includes  Penmanship, 
Business  Correspondence,  and  Commercial  Calculations ; 
Fire,  Marine  and  Life  Insurance ;  Commercial  Law  and  Con- 
veyancing ;  the  Philosophy  and  Morals  of  Business  and 
Political  Economy,  in  their  applications.  Students,  in  tak- 
ing this  course,  pass  through  a  "  Theory  Department,"  in 
which  the  principles  of  accounts  are  clearly  explained  and 
practically  applied,  when  they  are  advanced  to  the  "  Actual 
Business  Department,"  where  they  engage  in  actual  busi- 
ness. 

THEORY  DEPARTMENT. 

Mayhew's  Practical  Book-keeping  is  used  as  a  text  book. 
This  work  commences  with  the  very  alphabet  of  accounts, 
and  gradually  advances  from  the  simplest  principles  of  Book- 
keeping to  the  clear  unfolding  of  Double  Entry  in  its  appli- 
cations to  the  various  business  pursuits  of  the  country.  The 
President  of  the  College,  who  is  the  author  of  this  popular 


IV  APPENDIX. 

work,  daily  meets  students  in  the  Lecture  Room,  where  they 
listen  to  exhaustive  Lectures,  with  demonstrations  upon  the 
Blackboard.  A  good  foundation  is  thus  laid  for  the  student's 
future  success. 

The  text  book  completed,  the  student  in  the  THEOKY  DE- 
PARTMENT advances  to  the  study  of  carefully  prepared 
Manuscript  Work,  embracing  Consignments,  Shipments, 
Merchandise  Companies,  Shipment  in  Companies,  Jobbing 
and  Importing,  Forwarding  and  Commission,  Steamboating, 
Banking,  etc.  The  course  includes  two  Original  Sets,  pre- 
pared by  the  students  themselves,  and  embracing  the  lead- 
ing principles  in  which  they  have  been  instructed,  including 
the  changing  of  Single  to  Double  Entry.  This  work  com- 
pleted, the  student  passes  to  the 

ACTUAL   BUSINESS  DEPARTMENT. 

In  the  ACTUAL  BUSINESS  DEPARTMENT  there  are  a  Union 
Store,  two  Banks,  and  several  offices,  in  connection  with 
which  students,  before  graduating,  engage  in  actual  busi- 
ness, and  thus  become  familiar  with  approved  business 
usages.  They  deposit  their  cash  receipts  from  time  to  time, 
in  one  of  the  Banks,  and  check  out  money  as  they  have  oc- 
casion to  use  it.  They  give  and  take  Notes,  and  deal  in 
Exchange,  as  their  business  requires.  They  engage  as  Mer- 
chants, and  buy  and  sell  and  "get  gain,"  using  cards  for 
merchandise.  They  purchase  Real  Estate,  and  execute 
Deeds  and  Mortgages,  and  draw  Contracts.  They  buy 
Wheat,  Wool,  Fruits,  and  the  surplus  products  generally  of 
the  country,  and  ship  and  sell  them  through  Commission 
Houses,  and  otherwise.  They  likewise  engage,  in  turn,  as 
Commission  Merchants,  receiving  and  selling  merchandise 
for  others,  rendering  an  Account  Sales,  and  remitting  pro- 
ceeds, pursuant  to  instructions.  The  freshness  of  novelty 
is  in  this  way  maintained  throughout  the  course.  And  while 
the  student's  work  thus  becomes  highly  attractive,  all  its 
details  are  conducted  with  great  care,  and  with  scientific 


APPENDIX.  V 

accuracy,  so  that  the  slightest  mistake  is  readily  detected, 
should  one  at  any  time  occur.  In  this  way,  and  as  an  aid 
to  the  inexperienced  in  comprehending  their  business  rela- 
tions, the  Actual  Business  Department  becomes  of  great 
practical  value  to  the  learner. 

LADIES'  DEPARTMENT. 

Ladies  are  admitted  to  this  Institution  at  reduced  rates, 
and  enjoy  the  benefit  of  the  full  course  of  instruction,  with 
ample  facilities  for  acquiring  a  thorough  knowledge  of  ac- 
counts. They  attend  upon  the  Lectures  of  the  President, 
and  the  instructions  of  the  Principals  of  Departments,  as  do 
gentlemen,  and  enjoy  in  common  with  them  all  the  privi- 
leges of  the  Lecture  Room  and  Library  of  the  Institution. 
Becoming  accomplished  Book-keepers,  the  quiet  duties  of 
the  Counting-room  are  befitting] y  open  to  them. 

BOOK-KEEPING  IN   SCHOOLS  AND 
SEMINARIES. 

Book-keeping  by  Double  Entry,  when  properly  taught,  is 
at  once  attractive  as  a  study,  unsurpassed  as  a  means  of  dis- 
cipline, and  of  great  practical  value.  It  must,  hence,  soon 
become  a  common  branch  of  study  in  Schools  generally,  and 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  it  will,  of  course,  be  essential  to 
the  Teacher.  The  Albion  Commercial  College  affords  every 
desirable  facility  to  persons  wishing  to  prepare  themselves 
for  giving  instruction  in  this  important  Science. 

TEACHERS  AND  SCHOOL  OFFICERS. 
Teachers  competent  to  give  instruction  in  Book-keeping 
are  now  sought  in  all  our  principal  Schools,  whose  Officers 
duly  appreciate  the  importance  of  a  thorough  and  practical 
education.  But  teachers  must  learn-  Book-keeping  as  other 
things,  before  they  are  prepared  to  instruct.  While  the 
Albion  Commercial  College  offers  special  facilities  to  Teach- 
ers who  wish  to  prepare  themselves  for  giving  instruction 


VI  APPENDIX. 

in  Book-keeping,  it  will  generally  be  prepared  to  refer 
School  Officers  desirous  of  employing  such  Teachers,  to 
those  well  qualified  for  giving  instruction  in  this  Science, 
and  who  may  hence  be  advantageously  employed  for  that 
purpose.  The  Board  of  Instruction  of  this  Institution  will 
always  take  pleasure  in  thus  serving  both  Teachers  and 
School  Officers. 

STUDENTS  FROM  OTHER  STATES. 
The  management  of  the  Albion  Commercial  College  con- 
templates the  perfect  development  of  one,  Institution,  which 
shall  be  worthy  of  being  sought  by  persons  desirous  of  en- 
joying first  class  facilities  for  becoming  accomplished  ac- 
countants. As  a  consequence,  our  patronage  is  not  merely 
local,  but  is  largely  derived  from  the  Canadas,  and  from 
New  England,  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  on  the  East ; 
from  Illinois,  Wisconsin  and  Missouri,  and  from  Iowa,  Min- 
nesota and  California,  on  the  West ;  and  from  Indiana,  Ohio 
and  Kentucky,  on  the  South.  We  have  preferred  thus  to 
concentrate  our  energies  upon  one  good  School,  to  distribut- 
ing them  among  several  widely  scattered  and  necessarily 
enfeebled  institutions. 

COLLEGE  LIBRARY. 

Connected  with  this  Institution  is  a  well  appointed 
Library  of  about  700  volumes,  embracing  a  wide  range  of 
reading  in  Biography,  History  and  Travels ;  numerous 
works  on  Science,  Literature  and  the  Arts  ;  valuable  treati- 
ses on  Agriculture,  Horticulture  and  Landscape  Gardening  ; 
Standard  Works  on  Government,  Education,  Political  and 
Moral  Science,  etc.,  which  is  free  to  students,  and  open  to 
the  public  at  reasonable  rates. 

WHEN  TERMS  COMMENCE. 

Ours  is  a  Business  College,  and,  like  other  business  insti- 
tutions, we  keep  open  the  entire  year  on  all  week  days 
with  the  exception  of  national  holidays.  Students  can 


APPENDIX.  Vll 

therefore  enter  at  such  times  as  shall  best  suit  their  conven- 
ience. Teachers  wishing  to  learn  Book-keeping  with  a  view 
of  introducing  the  study  into  their  Schools,  may  do  so  dur- 
ing their  vacations. 

HOW  WE  TEACH. 

Students  are  instructed  singly,  and  receive  the  attention 
of  a  Teacher  from  time  to  time  during  the  day,  as  circum- 
stances require,  and  as  difficulties  arise.  May  Lew's  Book- 
keeping, is  employed  as  a  text  book  in  the  early  part  of  the 
course.  After  this  is  completed,  full  sets  of  carefully  pre- 
pared Manuscript  Work  are  employed,  both  in  the  "  Theory 
Department, "  and  in  the  Department  of  "  Actual  Business." 

LECTURES  TO  CLASSES. 

While  students  receive  individiial  instruction  from  the 
Principals  of  Departments,  Avho  are  accomplished  teachers, 
they  have  likewise  the  privilege  of  attending  upon  full 
courses  of  Lectures  by  the  President,  and  of  being 
thoroughly  drilled  in  classes  in  the  Lecture  Eoom  of  the 
College,  while  they  listen  to  demonstrations  from  the  black- 
board. Our  course  thus  combines  the  advantages  of  indi- 
vidual instruction  and  class  drill. 

QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  ADMISSION. 

A  common  English  education  is  all  that  is  necessary  pre- 
paratory to  admission,  though  the  more  one  is  accustomed 
to  study,  and  the  farther  he  is  advanced,  particularly  in 
mathematical  studies,  the  more  rapid  and  satisfactory  will 
be  his  progress.  Many  students,  however,  do  Avell  whose 
preliminary  education  has  hardly  embraced  more  than  the 
fundamental  rules  of  arithmetic,  this  being  the  most  im- 
portant of  the  preparatory  studies,  and,  in  addition  to 
reading  and  writing,  the  only  one  absolutely  essential. 


Vlll  APPENDIX. 

\ 

BOOKS  AND  STATIONERY. 

All  the  Books  and  Stationery  required  in  the  Commercial 
Course,  may  be  obtained  at  the  College  Rooms  at  cheap 
rates.  The  stationery  used,  and  gold  pens  of  an  excellent 
quality,  are  manufactured  expressly  for  our  use. 

PHONOGRAPHY,  OR  SHORT  HAND. 

This  Science  enables  those  acquainted  with  it  to  perma- 
nently possess  much  A-aluable  information  which  they 
would  otherwise  be  unable  to  record  and  preserve,  six- 
sevenths  of  the  time  and  labor  required  in  the  common 
mode  of  writing  being  saved  by  its  use.  An  opportunity  is 
here  offered,  at  moderate  cost,  for  learning  the  Correspond- 
ing Style — an  acquisition  of  great  value  to  both  literary 
and  business  men. 

TUITION  AND  EXPENSES. 
Scholarships  for  the  full  course,  time  unlimited, 

with  the  privilege  of  review  at  any  time,  -  ,$80 

Scholarships  to  disabled  Soldiers,     -      -  ...        25 

Scholarships  to  minor  children  of  Clergymen,     -      -  25 

Scholarships  to  Ladies,     -      ...  .  20 

Stationery  for  the  course,  about    -  12 

Board  per  week,    -      -  $3.50  to  4 

Graduating  fee,  including  Diploma,    -      -      -  2 

Penmanship  alone,  30  Lessons,      ....  .     5 

Phonography,  Corresponding  Style,      ....      -       10 

Should  the  time  not  exceed  fourteen  weeks,  the  entire  cost 
to  the  student  need  be  only  about  $100  for  the  full  course. 

For  pamphlet  circulars,  giving  full  information  in  regard 
to  this  Institution,  and  containing  notices  of  Mayhew's 
Book-keeping,  and  his  work  on  Education,  apply  at  the  Col- 
lege Office,  or  address, 

IRA  MAYHEW,  President, 

ALSTON,  Mich. 


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